University  of  California  •  Berkeley 

Gift  of 
THE  HEARST  CORPORATION 


OnmwMo Imt^m  »«>  .^7j£X- 


The  Visits  of  Elizabeth 


NOT  ABLE     NOVELS 

THE  CARDINAL'S  SNUFF-BOX.  By  Henry  Har- 
lan d. 

SENATOR  NORTH.     By  Gertrude  Atherton. 

PATIENCE  SPARHAWK.    By  Gertrude  Atherton. 

THE  CALIFORNIANS.      By  Gertrude  Atherton. 

A  DAUGHTER  OF  THE  VINE.  By  Gertrude 
Atherton. 

DERELICTS.     By  W.  J.  Locke. 

IDOLS.     By  W.  J.  Locke. 

A  STUDY  IN  SHADOW.     By  W.  J.  Locke. 

THE  WHITE  DOVE.     By  W.  J.  Locke. 

THE  REALIST.      By  Herbert  Flowerdew. 

A  CELIBATE'S  WIFE.     By  Herbert  Flowerdew. 

THEY  THAT  TOOK  THE  SWORD.  By  Nathan- 
iel Stephenson. 

THE  COLUMN.     By  Charles  Marriott. 

A  YEAR  OF  LIFE.     By  W.  J.  Lilly. 

SCRUPLES.     By  Thomas  Cobb. 

SEVERANCE.     By  Thomas  Cobb. 

THE  DISSEMBLERS.     By  Thomas  Cobb. 

CARPET  COURTSHIP.     By  Thomas  Cobb. 

MR.   PASSINGHAM.     By  Thomas  Cobb. 

THE  JUDGMENT  OF  HELEN.     By  Thomas  Cobb. 

JOHN  LANE  :  LONDON  &  NEW  YORK 


The 

Visits  of  Elizabeth 

By 
ELINOR    GLYN 


% 


JOHN     LANE 

New  York 

LONDON  :    DUCKWORTH    ^  CO. 

1901 


Copyright,  igoo 
By  William  Heinemann 

Copyright,  igoi 
By  John  Lane 


UNIVERSITY   PRESS    •    JOHN   WILSON 
AND     SON    •     CAMBRIDGE,    U.S.A. 


Contents 

Page 

Nazeby  Hall » 3 

300  Eaton  Place 22 

Heaviland  Manor 29 

Hazeldene  Court 45 

Chateau  de  Croixmare 65 

Yacht  «*Sauterelle'* 72 

Caudebec 87 

Hotel  Frascati,   Havre 97 

Chateau  de  Croixmare 103 

Champs  Elys^es 124 

Chateau  de  Croixmare 131 

Retby 209 

Carriston  Towers 239 

Chevenix  Castle 265 

Foljambe  Place 297 


Nazeby    Hall 


The 

Fisirs  of  Elizabeth 

NAZEBYHALL 

IT  was  perhaps  a  fortunate  thing  for  Eliz- 
abeth that  her  ancestors  went  back  to 
the  Conquest,  and  that  she  numbered  at 
least  two  Countesses  and  a  Duchess  among 
her  relatives.  Her  father  had  died  some 
years  ago,  and,  her  mother  being  an  invalid, 
she  had  lived  a  good  deal  abroad.  But,  at 
about  seventeen,  Elizabeth  began  to  pay- 
visits  among  her  kinsfolk.  It  was  after  ar- 
riving at  Nazeby  Hall,  for  a  Cricket  Week, 
that  she  first  wrote  home. 

Nazeby  Hall,  26th  July. 
Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  got  here  all  right, 
without  even  a  smut  on  my  face,  for  Agnes 
tidied  me  up  in  the  brougham  before  we  ar- 
rived at  the  gate.  The  dust  in  the  train  was 
horrid.  It  is  a  nice  house.  They  were  at 
tea  when  I  was  ushered  in  ;  it  was  in  the  hall 

3 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Afternoon  —  I  suppose  it  was  because  it  was  so  windy 
•^^^  outside.     There  seemed  to  be  a  lot  of  people 

there ;  and  they  all  stopped  talking  suddenly, 
and  stared  at  me  as  if  I  were  a  new  thing  in 
the  Zoo,  and  then,  after  a  minute,  went  on 
with  their  conversations  at  the  point  they  had 
left  off. 

Lady  Cecilia  pecked  my  cheek,  and  gave 
me  two  fingers ;  and  asked  me,  in  a  voice 
right  up  at  the  top,  how  were  you.  I  said 
you  were  better,  and  —  you  know  what  you 
told  me  to  say.  She  murmured  something 
while  she  was  listening  to  what  a  woman 
with  a  sweet  frock  and  green  eyes  was  saying 
at  the  other  end  of  the  table.  There  was 
heaps  of  tea.  She  waved  vaguely  for  me  to 
sit  down,  which  I  did ;  but  there  was  a  foot- 
stool near,  and  it  was  half  dark,  so  I  fell 
over  that,  but  not  very  badly,  and  got  safely 
to  my  seat. 

Lady  Cecilia  —  continuing  her  conversa- 
tion across  the  room  all  the  time  —  poured 
out  a  cup  of  tea,  with  lumps  and  lumps  of 
sugar  in  it,  and  lots  of  cream,  just  what  you 
would  give  to  a  child  for  a  treat !  and  she 
handed  it  to  me,  but  I  said,  "  Oh  !  please, 
4 


NAZEBY       HALL 


Lady  Cecilia,  I  don't  take  sugar  !  "  She  has  Afternoon 
such  bulgy  eyes,  and  she  opened  them  wide  ^^ 
at  me,  perfectly  astonished,  and  said,  "  Oh  ! 
then  please  ring  the  bell  ;  I  don't  believe 
there  is  another  clean  cup."  Everybody 
stopped  talking  again,  and  looked  at  me, 
and  the  green-eyed  lady  giggled  —  and  I 
rang  the  bell,  and  this  time  didn't  fall  over 
anything,  and  so  presently  I  got  some  tea. 
Just  as  I  was  enjoying  such  a  nice  cake, 
and  watching  all  the  people,  quite  a  decent 
man  came  up  and  sat  down  behind  me. 
Lady  Cecilia  had  not  introduced  me  to 
anybody,  and  he  said,  "  Have  you  come  a 
long  way  ? "  And  I  said,  "  Yes."  And  he 
said,  "  It  must  have  been  dusty  in  the  train," 
and  I  said  it  was  —  and  he  was  beginning 
to  say  something  more,  when  the  woman 
with  the  green  eyes  said,  "  Harry,  do  hand 
me  the  cucumber  sandwiches,"  and  so  he 
had  to  get  up,  and  just  then  Sir  Trevor 
came  in,  and  he  was  glad  to  see  me.  He 
is  a  jolly  soul,  and  he  said  I  was  eight 
when  he  last  saw  me,  and  seemed  quite  sur- 
prised I  had  grown  any  taller  since  !  Just 
as  though  people  could  stay  at  eight !  Then 
5 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Afternoon  he  patted  my  cheek,  and  said,  "  You  're  a 
^^^  beauty,  Elizabeth,"  and  Lady  CeciHa*s  eyes 

bulged  at  him  a  good  deal,  and  she  said 
to  me,  "  Would  n't  you  like  to  see  your 
room  ? "  and  I  said  I  was  n't  a  bit  in  a 
hurry,  but  she  took  me  off,  and  here  I  am ; 
and  I  am  going  to  wear  my  pink  silk  for 
dinner,  and  will  finish  this  by-and-by. 

12.30.  —  Well,  I  have  had  dinner,  and  I 
found  out  a  good  many  of  their  names  — 
they  mostly  arrived  yesterday.  The  woman 
with  the  green  eyes  is  Mrs.  de  Yorburgh- 
Smith.  I  am  sure  she  is  3,pig,  The  quite 
decent  man,  "Harry,"  is  a  Marquis  —  the 
Marquis  of  Valmond  —  because  he  took 
Lady  Cecilia  in  to  dinner.  He  is  playing 
in  the  Nazeby  Eleven. 

There  is  a  woman  I  like,  with  stick-out 
teeth ;  her  name  is  Mrs.  Vavaseur.  She 
knows  you,  and  she  is  awfully  nice,  though 
so  plain,  and  she  never  looks  either  over 
your  head,  or  all  up  and  down,  or  talks  to 
you  when  she  is  thinking  of  something  else. 
There  are  heaps  more  women,  and  the  eleven 
men,  so  we  are  a  party  of  about  twenty-five ; 
but  you  will  see  their  names  in  the  paper. 
6 


NAZEBY       HALL 


Such    a    bore    took    me    in !      He    began  Afternoon 
about    the    dust    again,    but    I    could     not     ^^ 
stand    that,   so    I   said  that  every  one   had 
already    asked    me    about   it.       So    he  said 
"  Oh  ! "  and  went  on  with  his  soup. 

At  the  other  side  was  another  of  the 
Eleven,  and  he  said.  Did  I  like  cricket  ? 
And  I  said.  No,  I  hated  always  having  to 
field  (which  was  what  I  did,  you  know, 
when  I  played  with  the  Byrne  boys  at 
Biarritz) ;  and  I  asked  him  if  he  was  a 
good  player,  and  he  said  "  No,"  so  I  said 
I  supposed  he  always  had  to  field  too,  then ; 
and  he  said.  No,  that  sometimes  they 
allowed  him  a  bat,  and  so  I  said  I  was 
sure  that  was  n't  the  same  game  I  played ; 
and  he  laughed  as  if  I  had  said  something 
funny  —  his  name  is  Lord  George  Lane  — 
and  the  other  one  laughed  too,  and  they 
both  looked  idiots,  and  so  I  did  not  say 
any  more  about  that.  But  we  talked  on 
all  the  time,  and  every  one  else  seemed  to 
be  having  such  fun,  and  they  all  call  each 
other  by  pet  names,  and  shorten  up  all 
their  adjectives  (it  is  adjectives  I  mean,  not 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  adverbs).     I  am  sure   you  made  a  mistake 

Cricket     jj^   ^j^^^   yQ^    ^q\^    j^g^    |.|^^|.    ^ji   well-bred 

people  behave  nicely  at  dinner,  and  sit  up, 
because  they  don't  a  bit;  lots  of  them  put 
their  elbows  on  the  table,  and  nearly  all 
sat  anyhow  in  their  chairs.  Only  Lady 
Cecilia  and  Mrs.  Vavaseur  behaved  like 
you ;  but  then  they  are  both  quite  old  — 
over  forty. 

They  all  talk  about  things  that  no  stranger 
could  understand,  but  I  dare  say  I  shall  pick 
it  up  presently.  And  after  dinner,  in  the 
drawing-room,  Lady  Cecilia  did  introduce 
me  to  two  girls  —  the  Roose  girls  —  you 
know.  Well,  Lady  Jane  is  the  best  of  the 
two ;  Lady  Violet  is  a  lump.  They  both 
poke  their  heads,  and  Jane  turns  in  her  toes. 
They  have  rather  the  look  in  their  eyes  of 
people  with  tight  boots.  Violet  said,  "  Do 
you  bicycle  ? "  and  I  said,  "  Yes,  some- 
times ; "  and  she  said,  with  a  big  gasp : 
"Jane  and  I  adore  it.  We  have  been  ten 
miles  since  tea  with  Captain  Winchester 
and  Mr.  Wertz." 

I    did    not    think    that    interesting,    but 


NAZEBY      HALL 


still  we  talked.     They  asked  me  stacks  of  ^« 
questions,  but  did  not  wait  for  the  answers  ^/^.\^,^^ 

,  1  >r  ^xT  •  1  A  r  •  .1      MllllOn- 

much.  Mr.  Wertz  is  the  African  mil-  ^y^^ 
lionaire.  He  does  not  play  cricket,  and, 
when  the  men  came  in  afterwards,  he 
crossed  over  to  us,  and  Jane  introduced 
him  to  me  when  he  had  talked  a  little. 
He  is  quite  a  sort  of  gentleman,  and  is  very 
much  at  home  with  every  one.  He  laughed 
at  everything  I  said.  Mrs.  Smith  (such 
bosh  putting  "  de  Yorburgh  "  on  !)  sat  on 
a  big  sofa  with  Lord  Valmond,  and  she 
opened  and  shut  her  eyes  at  him,  and  Jane 
Roose  says  she  takes  every  one's  friend 
away ;  and  Lord  George  Lane  came  up, 
and  we  talked,  and  he  was  n*t  such  an  idiot 
as  at  dinner,  and  he  has  nice  teeth.  All 
the  rest,  except  the  Rooses  and  me,  are 
married  —  the  women,  I  mean  —  except  Miss 
La  Touche,  but  she  is  just  the  same,  be- 
cause she  sits  with  the  married  lot,  and 
they  all  chat  together,  and  Violet  Roose 
says  she  is  a  cat,  but  I  think  she  looks 
nice ;  she  is  so  pretty,  and  her  hair  is  done 
at  the  right  angle,  because  it  is  like  Agnes 
does  mine,  and  she  has  nice  scent  on  ;  and 
9 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

An  I  hope  it  won't  rain  to-morrow,  and  good- 

Afrtcan     night,    dear     Mamnia.  —  Your    affectionate 

Million-      ,  ^     ,  ^ 

aire  daughter,  Elizabeth. 

P.  6".  —  Jane  Roose  says  Miss  La  Touche 
will  never  get  married ;  she  is  too  smart, 
and  all  the  married  women's  men  talk 
to  her,  and  that  the  best  tone  is  to  look 
rather  dowdy ;  but  I  don't  believe  it,  and 
I  would  rather  be  like  Miss   La  Touche. 

E. 

Elizabeth  received  an  immediate  reply  to 
her  letter,  and  the  next  one  began : 

Nazeby  Hall,  28th  July, 
Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  ^w  sorry  you  find 
I  use  bad  grammar  and  write  incoherently, 
and  you  don't  quite  approve  of  my  style ; 
but  you  see  it  is  just  because  I  am  in  a  hurry. 
I  don't  speak  it ;  but  if  I  must  stop  to  think 
of  grammar  and  that,  I  should  never  get  on 
to  tell  you  what  I  am  doing  here,  so  do, 
dear  Mamma,  try  and  bear  it  bravely.  Well, 
everybody  came  down  to  breakfast  yester- 
day in  a  hat,  and  every  one  was  late  —  that 
10 


NAZEBY       HALL 


Is,  every  one  who  came  down  at  all,  the  rest  The 

Cric, 
Match 


had  theirs  upstairs.  Cricket 

The  cricket  began,  and  it  was  really  a 
bore.  We  sat  in  a  tent,  and  all  the  nice 
men  were  fielding  (it  is  always  like  that), 
and  the  married  lot  sat  together,  and  talked 
about  their  clothes,  and  Lady  Doraine  read 
a  book.  She  is  pretty  too,  but  has  big  ears. 
Her  husband  is  somewhere  else,  but  she 
does  not  seem  to  miss  him  ;  and  the  Rooses 
told  me  her  hair  used  to  be  black,  and  that 
they  have  not  a  penny  in  the  world,  so  I 
think  she  must  be  clever  and  nice  to  be  able 
to  manage  her  clothes  so  well.  They  are 
perfectly  lovely,  and  I  heard  her  say  her 
maid  makes  them. 

Miss  La  Touche  happened  to  be  next  me, 
so  she  spoke  to  me,  and  said  my  hat  was 
"  too  devey  for  words  "  (the  blue  one  you 
got  at  Caroline's) ;  and  by-and-by  we  had 
lunch,  and  at  lunch  Lord  Valmond  came 
and  sat  by  me,  and  so  Mrs.  Smith  did  too, 
and  she  gushed  at  me.  He  seemed  rather 
put  out  about  something  —  I  suppose  it 
was  having  to  field  all  the  time  —  and  she 
talked  to  him  across  me,  and  she  called  him 
II 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

The  "  Harry  ''   lots    of   times,    and    she   always 

f-'rtcket      g     g    things     that    have     another    meaning. 

Match       TDi-iiJL  iiT 

but  they  all  do  that  —  repeat  each  other  s 

Christian  names  in  a  sentence,  I  mean  —just 
like  you  said  that  middle-class  people  did 
when  you  were  young,  so  I  am  sure  every- 
thing must  have  changed  now. 

Well,  after  lunch,  all  the  people  in  the 
county  seemed  to  come  ;  some  of  them  had 
driven  endless  miles,  and  we  sat  apart,  I 
suppose  to  let  them  see  how  ordinary  we 
thought  them  ;  and  Lady  Cecilia  was  hardly 
polite,  and  the  others  were  more  or  less  rude  ; 
but  presently  something  happened  —  I  don't 
know  what  —  and  the  nice  men  had  not  to 
field  any  more.  Perhaps  they  could  not 
stand  it  any  longer,  and  so  every  one  who 
had  been  yawning  woke  up,  and  Mr.  Wertz, 
who  had  been  writing  letters  all  this  time, 
appeared,  and  Lady  Doraine  made  room  for 
him  beside  her,  and  they  talked  ;  and  when 
our  Eleven  had  drunk  something  they  came 
and  lay  on  the  grass  near  us,  and  we  had 
such  a  nice  time.  There  is  a  beautiful  man 
here,  and  his  name  Is  Sir  Dennis  Desmond, 
and  his  grandfather  was  an  Irish  King,  and 

12 


NAZEBY       HALL 


he  talks  to  me  all  the  time,  and  his  mother  Sir 

looks    at  him  and   frowns ;  and   I   think  it  ^^^^" 

r   1  1       ,  ^       A      1    -r  T  Desmond 

Silly  or   her,  don  t  you :     And  ir  1  were  a 

man  I  would  n't  visit  with  my  mother  if  she 
frowned  at  me.  Do  you  know  her  ?  She 
dresses  as  if  she  were  as  young  as  I  am. 
She  had  a  blue  muslin  on  this  morning,  and 
her  hair  is  red  with  green  stripes  in  it,  and 
she  is  all  white  with  thick  pink  cheeks,  and 
across  the  room  she  does  n*t  look  at  all  bad  ; 
but  close  !  Goodness  gracious  she  looks  a 
hundred  !  And  I  would  much  sooner  have 
nice  white  hair  and  a  cap  than  look  like 
that,  would  n't  you  ?  I  '11  finish  this  when 
I  come  to  bed. 

12.30.  —  What  do  you  think  has  hap- 
pened? Sir  Dennis  sat  beside  me  on  the 
sofa  just  as  he  did  last  night  —  but  I  forget, 
I  have  not  yet  told  you  of  yesterday  and  last 
night ;  but  never  mind  now,  I  must  get  on. 
Well,  he  said  I  was  a  perfect  darling,  but  that 
he  never  could  get  a  chance  to  say  a  word 
to  me  alone,  but  that  if  I  would  only  drop 
my  glove  outside  my  door  it  would  be  all 
right ;  and  I  thought  that  such  a  ridiculous 
thing  to  say,  that  I  could  n't  help  laughing, 
13 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Sir  and   Lady  Cecilia   happened  to   be  passing, 

Dennis  ^^^  g^  gj^^  asked  me  what  I  was  laughing 
at,  and  so  I  told  her  what  he  had  said,  and 
asked  why  ?  There  happened  to  be  a  pause 
just  then  and,  as  one  has  to  speak  rather 
loud  to  Lady  Cecilia  to  attract  her  atten- 
tion, every  one  heard,  and  they  all  looked 
flabergasted ;  and  then  all  shrieked  with 
laughter,  and  Sir  Dennis  said  so  crossly, 
*'  Little  fool !  "  and  Lady  Desmond  simply 
glared  at  me,  and  Lady  Cecilia  said,  "  Really, 
Elizabeth  !  "  and  Sir  Dennis  got  purple  in 
the  face,  and  Jane  Roose  whispered,  "  H  ow 
could  you  dare  with  his  wife  listening  !  ** 
and  every  one  talked  and  chaffed.  It 
was  too  stupid  about  nothing ;  but  the  as- 
tonishing part  is,  that  funny  old  thing  I 
thought  was  the  mother  turns  out  to  be  his 
wife! 

Imagine  !  years  and  years  older  than  him  ! 
Jane  Roose  said  he  had  to  marry  her  be- 
cause her  husband  died  ;  but  I  think  that 
the  most  absurd  reason  I  ever  heard,  don't 
you  ?  Lots  of  people's  husbands  die,  and 
they  don't  have  to  get  married  off  again  at 
once  —  so  why  should  that  ugly  old  thing, 
H 


NAZEBY       HALL 


specially  when  there  are  such  heaps  of  nice  A  Man  of 
girls  about?  ^^'^^«'' 

Jane  Roose  said  it  was  so  honourable  of 
him,  but  I  call  it  crazy  —  unless,  perhaps,  he 
was  a  great  friend  of  the  husband's,  who 
made  him  promise  when  he  was  dying,  and 
he  did  not  like  to  break  his  word.  How 
he  must  have  hated  it !  I  wonder  if  he  had 
ever  met  her  before,  or  if  the  husband  made 
him  take  her,  a  pig  in  a  poke.  I  expect  that 
was  it,  because  he  never  could  have  done  it 
if  he  had  ever  seen  her. 

I  can't  think  why  he  is  so  cross  with 
me,  but  I  am  sorry,  as  he  is  such  a  nice 
man.  Now  I  am  sleepy,  and  it  is  fright- 
fully late,  so  I  suppose  I  had  better  get 
into  bed.  Agnes  came  up,  and  has  been 
fussing  about  for  the  last  hour.  Best  love 
from  your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


>5 


tn  the 
Corridor 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


Nazeby  Hall,  joth  July, 
Ghosts  Dearest   Mamma,  —  Yesterday  was  the 

best  day  we  have  had  yet;  the  nice  men 
had  not  to  field  at  all,  and  the  stupid  cricket 
was  over  at  four  o'clock,  and  so  we  went 
into  the  gardens  and  lay  in  hammocks,  and 
Miss  La  Touche  had  such  nice  shoes  on,  but 
her  ankles  are  thick. 

The  Rooses  told  me  it  was  n*t  "  quite 
nice"  for  girls  to  loll  in  hammocks 
(and  they  sat  on  chairs)  —  that  you 
could  only  do  it  when  you  are  mar- 
ried ;  but  I  believe  it  is  because  they  don't 
have  pretty  enough  petticoats.  Anyway, 
Lady  Doraine  and  that  horrid  Smith  crea- 
ture made  a  place  for  me  in  the  empty 
hammock  between  them,  and,  as  I  knew 
my  "  frillies  "  were  all  right,  I  hammocked 
too,  and  it  was  lovely.  Lord  Valmond  and 
Mr.  Wertz  were  lying  near,  and  they  said 
agreeable  things,  at  least  I  suppose  so,  be- 
cause both  of  them  —  Lady  Doraine  and 
Mrs.  Smith — looked  purry-purry-puss-puss. 
They  asked  me  why  I  was  so  sleepy,  and 
I    said    because  I    had  not   slept   well    the 


i6 


NAZEBY      HALL 


last  night  —  that  I  was  sure  the  house  was  Ghosts 

in  the 
Corridor 


haunted.  And  so  they  all  screamed  at  me,  ^" 
"  Why  ?  "  and  so  I  told  them,  what  was 
really  true,  that  in  the  night  I  heard  a 
noise  of  stealthy  footsteps,  and  as  I  was 
not  frightened  I  determined  to  see  what  it 
was,  so  I  got  up  —  Agnes  sleeps  in  the 
dressing-room,  but,  of  course,  she  never 
wakes  —  I  opened  the  door  and  peeped  out 
into  the  corridor.  There  are  only  two 
rooms  beyond  mine  towards  the  end,  round 
the  corner,  and  it  is  dimly  lit  all  night. 
Well,  I  distinctly  saw  a  very  tall  grey  figure 
disappear  round  the  bend  of  the  hall !  When 
I  got  thus  far  every  one  dropped  their  books 
and  listened  with  rapt  attention,  and  I  could 
see  them  exchanging  looks,  so  I  am  sure 
they  know  it  is  haunted,  and  were  trying 
to  keep  it  from  me.  I  asked  Mrs.  Smith 
if  she  had  seen  or  heard  anything,  because 
she  sleeps  in  one  of  the  rooms.  She  looked 
perfectly  green,  but  she  said  she  had  not 
heard  a  sound,  and  had  slept  like  a  top, 
and  that  I  must  have  dreamt  it. 

Then  Lady  Doraine  and  every  one  talked 
at  once,  and  Lord  Valmond  asked  did  any 
2  17 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Ghosts  one  know  if  the  London  evening  papers 
tn  the  j^^j  come.  But  I  was  not  going  to  be  put 
oiF  like  that,  so  I  just  said,  "  I  know  you 
all  know  it  is  haunted  and  are  putting  me 
off  because  you  think  I  '11  be  frightened  ; 
but  I  assure  you  I  am  not,  and  if  I  hear 
the  noise  again  I  am  going  to  rush  out 
and  see  the  ghost  close/' 

Then  every  one  looked  simply  ahuri. 
So  I  mean  to  get  the  ghost  story  out  of 
Sir  Trevor  to-night  after  dinner  —  I  had 
not  a  chance  yesterday  —  as  I  am  sure  it  is 
interesting.  Mrs.  Smith  looked  at  me  as 
if  she  wanted  to  poison  me,  and  I  can't 
think  why  specially,  can  you  ? 

Twelve  p.m.  —  I  asked  Sir  Trevor  if  the 
house  is  haunted,  and  he  said,  "  God  bless 
my  soul,  no  !  "  and  so  I  told  him,  and  he 
nearly  had  a  fit ;  so  I  know  it  is,  but  I  am 
not  a  bit  frightened.  —  Your  affectionate 
daughter,  Elizabeth. 


i8 


NAZEBY     HALL 


Nazeby  Hall,  Sunday, 
Dearest  Mamma,  —  Agnes  and  I  go  to  J  Kiss 
Aunt    Mary*s    by   the    10.30  train  to-mor- ^"^  ^ 
row,  and  I  am  not  a  bit  sorry,  although   I      °^ 
have  enjoyed   myself,  and  now   I   begin  to 
feel  quite  at  home  with  every  one  —  at  least, 
some  of  them  ;  but   such  a  tiresome   thing 
happened    last    night.       It    was    like    this : 
After  dinner  it  was  so  hot  that  we  all  went 
out  on  the  terrace,  and,  as  soon  as  we  got 
there,  Mrs.    Smith  and   Lady   Doraine  and 
the  rest  said  it  was  too  cold,  and  went  in 
again ;    but    the    moon    was    pretty,    so    I 
stayed  alone,  and  presently  Lord  Valmond 
came  out,  and  stood  beside  me.     There  is 
such  a  nice  view,  you  remember,  from  there, 
and  I   did  n*t  a  bit  want  to  talk. 

He  said  something,  but  I  was  n*t  listen- 
ing, when  suddenly  I  did  hear  him  say  this : 
"  You  adorable  enfant  terrible^  come  out 
and  watch  for  ghosts  to-night;  and  I  will 
come  and  play  the  ghost,  and  console  you 
if  you  are  frightened ! "  And  he  put  his 
horrid  arm  right  round  my  waist,  and  kissed 
19 


Blow 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

J  Kiss  me  —  somewhere  about  my  right  ear  —  be- 
^^f  ^        fore  I  could  realise  what  he  was  at ! 

I  was  in  a  rage,  as  you  can  fancy.  Mamma, 
so  I  just  turned  round  and  gave  him  the 
hardest  slap  I  could,  right  on  the  cheek ! 
He  was  furious,  and  called  me  a  "  little 
devil,"  and  we  both  walked  straight  into 
the  drawing-room. 

I  suppose  I  looked  savage,  and  in  the 
light  I  could  see  he  had  great  red  finger 
marks  on  his  face.  Anyway,  Mrs.  Smith, 
who  was  sitting  on  the  big  sofa  near  the 
window  alone,  looked  up,  and  said  in  an 
odious  voice,  that  made  every  one  listen, 
"  I  am  afraid,  Harry,  you  have  not  en- 
joyed cooing  in  the  moonlight ;  it  looks  as 
if  our  sweet  Elizabeth  had  been  difficult, 
and  had  boxed  your  ears  !  " 

That  made  me  wild,  the  impudence  ! 
That  parvenue  calling  me  by  my  Christian 
name !  So  I  just  lost  my  temper  right 
out,  and  said  to  her,  "It  is  perfectly  true 
what  you  say,  and  I  will  box  yours  if  you 
call  me  '  Elizabeth  *  again  !  " 

tableau  !  She  almost  fainted  with  aston- 
ishment and  fury,  and  when  she  could  get 


20 


NAZEBY      HALL 


her    voice    decent    enough    to    speak,    she  Lord 

Valm 
in  Dis- 


laughed  and  said—         '  "  ^^^^^«^ 

"What    a    charming   savage!     How   in- ^^^^^ 
genuous ! " 

And  then  Lady  Cecilia  did  a  really  nice 
thing,  which  shows  that  she  is  a  brick,  in 
spite  of  having  bulgy  eyes,  and  being  ab- 
sent and  tiresome.  She  came  up  to  me 
as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and  said, 
"Come,  Elizabeth,  they  are  waiting  for 
you  to  begin  a  round  game,"  and  she  put 
her  arm  through  mine  and  drew  me  into 
the  billiard-room,  and  on  the  way  she 
squeezed  my  arm,  and  said,  in  a  voice 
quite  low  down  for  her,  "  She  deserved 
it,"  and  I  was  so  touched  I  nearly  cried. 
From  where  I  sat  at  the  card-table  I  could 
see  Mrs.  Smith  and  Lord  Valmond,  and 
they  were  quarrelling.  She  looked  like 
green  rhubarb  juice,  and  he  had  the  ex- 
pression of  "  Damn  !  "  all  over  him. 

Of  course  I  did  not  say  good-night  to 
him,  and  I  hope  I  shall  never  see  him 
again.  —  Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


21 


I 


Season 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


300  Eaton  Place, 

Tuesday^  2nd  August. 
London  D  BAREST    Mamma,  —  The     train    from 

Tl£!  Nazeby  was  so  late  and  Aunt  Mary 
seemed  to  think  it  was  my  fault  —  so  un- 
reasonable of  her,  just  because  they  had 
waited  lunch  for  me.  I  don*t  believe  I  like 
visiting  very  near  relations  as  much  as  ones 
further  off.  They  feel  they  can  say  anything 
to  you.  I  am  glad  I  have  only  got  to  sleep 
here  the  one  night.  I  had  not  eaten  my 
omelette  before  Aunt  Mary  began  about 
my  hair.  She  said  of  course  it  was  very 
nice  curling  like  that,  but  it  was  a  pity  1 
did  not  wear  a  net  over  it  all  to  keep  it 
more  tidy.  She  was  sure  you  spoilt  me,  even 
though  we  are  rich,  letting  me  have  such 
smart  clothes.  She  had  heard  from  Nazeby, 
that  I  had  had  on  a  fresh  frock  every  day. 
I  don't  know  who  could  have  written  to 
her.  She  has  got  to  look  much  older  in 
the  two  years  we  have  been  abroad  and  the 
corners  of  her  mouth  shut  with  a  snap. 
Perhaps  it  is  having  to  spend  part  of  the 
year  with  her  mother-in-law. 
22 


EATON      PLACE 


Lettice  and  Clara  are  just  the  same  as  Cousinly 
they  were,  not  a  bit  of  difference  since  ^^^^°^^^y 
they  came  out.  They  are  as  tidy  as  can 
be,  not  a  hair  escapes  from  their  nets  ! 
and  their  heads  look  as  '  if  they  had 
dozens  of  hairpins  in  them,  and  because 
it  is  out  of  the  season  they  have  gone 
back  to  their  country  high  linen  collars, 
and  they  look  as  if  they  were  choking. 
I  hate  linen  collars,  don't  you.  Mamma  ? 
Two  Ethridge  aunts  are  staying  here  be- 
sides me,  and  we  all  have  to  sit  together  in 
the  morning-room,  as  everything  is  covered 
up  in  the  drawing-rooms,  ready  for  being 
shut  up  next  week,  when  they  go  to  Scot- 
land. After  lunch  the  girls  did  nothing 
but  question  me  about  what  we  had  done 
at  Nazeby.  They  said  Lady  Cecilia  only 
asks  them  to  the  dullest  parties.  They 
knew  every  one's  name,  they  had  carefully 
read  them  in  the  Morning  Post,  They 
wanted  especially  to  know  about  Lord  Val- 
mond  because  Lettice  had  danced  with  him 
once  this  season.  They  thought  him  awfully 
good-looking.  I  said  he  was  an  odious 
young  man  and  very  rude.  So  Lettice  said 
23 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Cousinly  she  supposed  he  had  not  spoken  to  me,  as 
Curiosity  j^^  ^^^^^  speaks  to  girls.  I  told  them  that 
was  quite  a  mistake  as  he  had  spoken  to 
me  all  the  time,  but  I  hated  him.  And 
do  you  know.  Mamma,  they  looked  as  if 
they  did  not  believe  a  word  I  was  saying ; 
which  was  not  very  polite  I  think. 

When  we  got  upstairs  they  wanted  to  see 
all  my  clothes,  but  fortunately  Agnes  had 
only  taken  out  one  or  two  things,  and  they 
asked  me  to  let  their  maid  take  patterns  of 
everything.  Of  course  I  could  not  refuse, 
but  I  hate  my  things  being  mauled  over  by 
strange  females,  and  Agnes  was  simply  furi- 
ous. I  am  sure  she  will  scratch  the  maid 
when  she  comes  to  ask  for  a  frock.  They 
tried  on  my  hats  all  at  the  wrong  angle, 
first  Clara,  then  Lettice,  and  made  faces 
and  gave  little  screams  at  themselves  in  the 
glass,  and  no  wonder,  for  they  looked  per- 
fect guys  in  them,  with  their  tight  "  tongy  " 
hair.  Then  they  tossed  them  on  to  the 
bed  as  they  finished  with  them,  and  Agnes 
kept  muttering  to  herself  like  distant  thun- 
der. Finally  Lettice  danced  a  pas  seul  with 
the  white  rose  toque  perched  on  the  back 
24 


EATON      PLACE 

of  her  head,  and  she  made  such  kicks  and  On  the 
iumps    that   it   lurched    off,   and  landed  in  ^^^^^^ 
the  water  jug !     At  that  Agnes   got  beside 
herself. 

"  Fi !  done.  Mademoiselle  !  "  she  screamed, 
"  *ca  c'est  trop  fort !  " 

The  hat  is  quite  spoilt,  so  please  write 
and  order  me  another  one  from  Caroline's, 
like  a  nice,  sweet,  pretty,  darling  Mamma. 
At  tea  they  were  all  so  interested  when  I 
told  them  I  was  going  to  stay  in  France  with 
the  de  Croixmares.  One  of  the  Ethridge 
aunts  (Rowena)  pricked  up  her  ears  at  once, 
and  asked  me  if  Madame  de  Croixmare  was 
not  my  godmother,  and  had  she  not  been  a 
great  friend  of  poor  papa's.  So  I  told  her  yes, 
and  that  I  was  going  there  for  three  weeks. 
She  and  Aunt  Mary  exchanged  looks,  I  don't 
know  why,  but  it  irritated  me.  Mamma,  and 
I  rather  snapped  at  Aunt  Mary  when  she 
began  about  my  hair  again.  And  presently  I 
heard  her  saying  to  the  other  aunt  that  it 
was  a  pity  girls  nowadays  were  allowed  to 
be  impertinent  to  their  elders. 

Of  course  there  was  not  a  thing  to  do, 
every  one  having  left  Town,  so  in  the  even- 
ts 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

On  the  ing  Uncle  Geoffrey  took  us  to  the  Exhibi- 
^^^^^  tion  to  go  down  in  the  Water  Shoot.  That 
is  lovely.  Mamma,  only  I  had  to  sit  beside 
Lettice,  because  Clara  was  frightened  and 
would  be  with  her  father.  A  horrid  man 
behind,  who,  I  suppose,  was  not  holding 
on,  flopped  right  on  to  us  at  the  bump 
in  the  water,  and  then  said,  "  Beg  pardon, 
dears,"  and  it  made  Uncle  Geoffrey  so  cross 
he  would  not  let  us  go  down  any  more, 
and  we  had  to  go  home  and  to  bed.  I  am 
just  scribbling  this  before  breakfast. 

We  go  on  to  Great-aunt  Maria's  by  the 
eleven  train.  I  am  glad  Cousin  Octavia  is 
going  to  take  me  out  next  season  instead 
of  Aunt  Mary,  which  was  first  suggested.  I 
know  I  should  not  have  been  good  with  her. 
She  is  not  a  bit  like  you,  darling  Mamma.  I 
hope  you  are  better ;  I  shan't  see  you  again 
until  next  Saturday,  when  I  leave  Heaviland 
Manor.  It  is  a  long  time.  —  With  love  from 
your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


26 


Heaviland    Manor 


HEAVILAND    MANOR 


Heaviland  Manor, 

Wednesday^  August  jrd, 

DEAREST  MAMMA, —  I  can't  ^^«/V/ 
think  why  you  made  me  come  here !  ^'^^^^^S 
Agnes  has  been  so  sniffy  and  con- 
descending ever  since  this  morning;  but  I 
have  remarked  that  Uncle  John's  valet  is  only 
about  forty  and  has  a  roving  eye  !  so  perhaps 
by  to-morrow  morning  I  shan't  have  my  hair 
screwed  off  my  head  !  But  I  feel  for  Agnes, 
only  in  a  different  way. 

It  is  a  stuffy,  boring  place.  You  remem- 
ber the  house  —  enormous,  tidy,  hideous, 
uncomfortable.  Well,  we  had  such  a  dinner 
last  night  after  I  arrived  —  soup,  fish,  every- 
thing popped  on  to  the  table  for  Great-uncle 
John  to  carve  at  one  end,  and  Great-aunt 
Maria  at  the  other!  A  regular  aquarium 
specimen  of  turbot  sat  on  its  dish  opposite 
him,  while  Aunt  Maria  had  a  huge  lot  of 

29 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

A  ^iet  soles.  And  there  was  n*t  any  need,  because 
Evening  ^^^^  ^^x^  four  men-servants  in  the  room 
who  could  easily  have  done  it  at  the  side ; 
but  I  remember  you  said  it  was  always  like 
that  when  you  were  a  little  girl.  Well,  it 
got  on  to  puddings.  I  forgot  to  tell  you, 
though,  there  were  plenty  of  candles  on  the 
table,  without  shades,  and  a  "  bouquet "  of 
flowers,  all  sorts  (I  am  sure  fixed  in  sand), 
in  a  gold  middle  thing.  Well,  about  the 
puddings  —  at  least  four  of  them  were  planted 
on  the  table,  awfully  sweet  and  jammy,  and 
Uncle  John  was  quite  irritated  with  me  be- 
cause I  could  only  eat  two  ;  and  Aunt  Maria, 
who  has  got  as  deaf  as  a  post,  kept  roaring 
to  old  Major  Orwell,  who  sat  next  her, 
"  Children  have  no  healthy  appetites  as  in 
our  day.  Eh  !  what  ?  "  And  I  wanted  to 
scream  in  reply,  "  But  I  am  grown  up  now. 
Aunt  Maria  !  " 

Uncle  John  asked  me  every  question  over 
and  over,  and  old  Lady  Farrington*s  false 
teeth  jumped  so  once  or  twice  that  I  got 
quite  nervous.  That  is  the  party,  me. 
Major  Orwell,  Lady  Farrington,  and  Uncle 
and  Aunt. 

30 


HEAVILAND      MANOR 

When  dessert  was  about  coming,  every-  A  ^iet 
thing  got  lifted  from  the  table,  and  before  ^'^^^^^S 
you  could  say  "  Jack  Robinson  "  off  whisked 
the  cloth.  I  was  so  unprepared  for  it  that 
I  said  "  Oh  !  *'  and  ducked  my  head,  and 
that  made  the  cloth  catch  on  old  Lady 
Farrington*s  cap  —  she  had  to  sit  on  my 
side  of  the  table,  to  be  out  of  the  draught 
—  and,  wasn't  it  dreadful^  it  almost  pulled 
it  off,  and  with  it  the  grey  curls  fixed  at 
the  side,  and  the  rest  was  all  bald.  So  that 
was  why  it  was  so  loose —  there  was  nothing 
to  pin  it  to  !  And  she  glared  at  me,  and  fixed 
it  as  straight  as  she  could,  but  it  had  such  a 
saucy  look  all  the  rest  of  the  evening. 

I  did  apologise  as  well  as  I  could,  and 
there  was  such  an  awkward  pause ;  and  after 
dinner  we  had  coffee  in  the  drawing-room, 
and  then  in  a  little  time  tea,  and  between 
times  they  sat  down  to  whist,  all  but  Aunt 
Maria  —  so  they  had  to  have  a  dummy.  She 
wanted  to  hear  all  about  you,  she  said,  and 
my  going  to  visit  in  France ;  and  so  I  had 
to  bellow  descriptions  of  your  neuralgia, 
and  about  Mme.  de  Croixmare  being  my 
godmother,  &c.,  and  Aunt  Maria  says, 
31 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

J  ^iet    "Tut,  tut!"   as  well  as  "Eh!  what?'*  to 
Evening    everything.     I   had    not   remembered  a  bit 
what  they  were    like  ;   but  I   was  only  six, 
was  n*t  I,  when  we  came  last  ? 

After  she  had  asked  every  sort  of  thing 
about  you  under  the  sun,  she  kept  giving 
longing  glances  at  the  dummy's  cards ;  so 
I  said,  "  Oh  !  Aunt  Maria,  I  am  afraid  I 
am  keeping  you  from  your  whist."  As 
soon  as  I  could  make  her  hear,  you  should 
have  seen  how  she  hopped  up  like  a  two- 
year  old  into  the  vacant  seat ;  and  they  were 
far  more  serious  about  it  than  any  one  was 
at  Nazeby,  where  they  had  hundreds  on, 
and  Aunt  Maria  and  the  others  only  played 
for  counters  —  that  long  mother-  o*-pearl  fish 
kind.  I  looked  at  a  book  on  the  table.  Lady 
Blessington's  "  Book  of  Beauty,"  and  I  see 
then  every  one  got  born  with  champagne- 
bottle  shoulders.  Had  they  been  paring 
them  for  generations  before,  I  wonder  ?  Be- 
cause old  John,  the  keeper  at  Hendon,  told 
me  once  that  the  best  fox-terriers  arrive  now 
without  any  tails,  their  mothers'  and  grand- 
mothers' and  great-grandmothers'  having 
been  cut  off  for  so  long ;  but  I  wonder,  if 
32 


HEAVILAND      MANOR 

the  fashion  changed,  how  could  they  get  ^n  Old 
long  tails  again  ?  There  must  be  some  way,  ^i"^^ 
because  all  of  us  now  have  square  shoulders. 
But  what  was  I  saying  ?  Oh  !  yes,  when  I 
had  finished  the  "  Beauty  Book,"  I  heard 
Aunt  Maria  getting  so  cross  with  the  old 
boy  opposite  her.  "  You  Ve  revoked.  Major 
Orwell,"  she  said,  whatever  that  means. 

Then  hot  spiced  port  came  in  —  it  was 
such  a  close  night  —  and  they  all  had  some, 
and  so  did  I,  and  it  was  good ;  and  then 
candles  came.  Suck  lovely  silver,  and  so 
beautifully  cleaned;  and  Aunt  and  Uncle 
kissed  me.  I  dodged  Lady  Farrington's 
false  teeth,  because,  after  her  cap  incident, 
she  might  have  bitten  me.  And  Uncle  said, 
"  Too  late,  too  late  for  a  little  one  to  sit 
up — no  beauty  sleep  !  "  And  Aunt  Maria 
said,  "  Tut,  tut !  "  and  I  thought  it  must 
be  the  middle  of  the  night  —  it  felt  like  it. 
But  do  you  know.  Mamma,  when  I  got 
upstairs  to  my  room  it  was  only  half-past 
ten  I 

I  have  such  a  huge  room,  with  a  four- 
post    feather  bed  in  it.     I    had    let  Agnes 
go  to  bed  directly  after  her  supper,  with  a 
3  33 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

An  Old  toothache,  so  I  had  to  get  undressed  by 
English  jnyseJf ;  and  I  was  afraid  to  climb  in  from 
the  side,  it  was  so  high  up.  But  I  found 
some  steps  with  blue  carpet  on  them,  as 
well  as  a  table  with  a  Bible,  and  a  funny 
old  china  medicine  spoon,  and  glass  and 
water-jug  on  it ;  and  the  steps  did  nicely, 
for  when  I  got  to  the  top,  I  just  took  a 
header  into  the  feathers.  It  seemed  quite 
comfy  at  first,  but  in  a  few  minutes,  good- 
ness gracious,  I  was  suffocated !  And  it 
was  such  a  business  getting  the  whole  mass 
on  the  floor ;  and  then  I  did  not  know 
very  well  how  to  make  the  bed  again,  and 
I  had  not  a  very  good  night,  and  over- 
slept myself  in  the  morning.  So  I  got 
down  late  for  prayers.  Uncle  John  reads 
them,  and  Aunt  Maria  repeats  responses 
whenever  she  thinks  best,  as  she  can*t  hear 
a  word ;  but  I  suppose  she  counts  up,  and, 
from  long  habit,  just  says  "  Amen  "  when 
she  gets  to  the  end  of —  thirty,  say  —  fancy- 
ing that  will  be  right ;  and  it  is  generally. 
Only  Uncle  John  stopped  in  the  middle 
to  say,  "  Damn  that  dog ! "  as  Fido  was 
whining  and  scratching  outside,  so  that  put 
34 


HEAVILAND      MANOR 

her  out  and  brought  in  the  "  Amen  "  too  Family 
soon.  P^'^y''' 

After  breakfast  Aunt  Maria  jingled  a 
large  bunch  of  keys  and  said  it  was  her 
day  for  seeing  the  linen-room,  and  would  n*t 
I  like  to  go  with  her,  as  all  young  people 
should  have  "  house-wifely  "  ideas  ?  So  I 
went.  It  is  so  beautifully  kept,  and  such 
lovely  linen,  all  with  lavender  between  it ; 
and  she  talked  to  the  housekeeper,  and 
looked  over  everything — she  seemed  to  know 
each  sheet  by  name!  Then  we  went  to 
the  storeroom,  all  as  neat  as  a  new  pin  ;  and 
from  there  to  interview  all  the  old  people 
from  the  village,  who  were  waiting  with 
requests,  and  some  of  them  were  as  deaf 
as  she  is.  So  the  housekeeper  had  to 
scream  at  both  sides,  and  I  was  tired  when 
we  got  back,  and  did  want  to  rush  out  of 
doors  ;  but  I  had  to  wait,  and  then  walk 
between  Lady  Farrington  and  Aunt  Maria 
up  and  down  the  path  in  the  sun  till  lunch 
at  one  o'clock  ;  and  after  that  we  went  for 
a  drive  in  the  barouche,  with  the  fattest 
white  horses  you  ever  saw,  and  a  coachman 
just  like  Cinderella's  one  that  had  been  a  rat. 
35 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Family  He  seemed  to  have  odd  bits  of  fur  on  his 
Prayers  ^^^^  ^^^  under  his  chin,  and  Aunt  Maria 
said  that  he  suffered  from  a  sore  throat,  that 
was  why,  which  he  caught  at  Aunt  Mary's 
wedding;  and  so  I  counted  up  —  and  as 
Aunt  Mary  is  your  eldest  sister,  it  must 
have  been  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  I  do 
call  that  a  long  sore  throat,  don't  you  ?  and 
I  would  n't  keep  a  coachman  with  a  beard, 
would  you  ? 

We  went  at  a  snail's  pace,  and  got  in  at 
four  o'clock,  and  then  there  was  tea  at  half- 
past,  with  the  nicest  bread-and-butter  you 
ever  tasted.  And  after  that  I  said  I  must 
write  to  you,  and  so  here  I  am,  and  I  feel 
that  if  it  goes  on  much  longer  I  shall  do 
something  dreadful.  Now  good-bye,  dearest 
Mamma.  —  Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


36 


HEAVILAND     MANOR 


Heaviland  Manor, 

Friday^  August  ^th. 

Dearest  Mamma, —  I  am  glad  to-morrow  LordVal- 
will  soon  be  here,  and  that  I  can  come  home,  ^ondRe- 
but  I  must  tell  you  about  yesterday.     First,  ^rP^^^^ 
all   the  morning  it  rained,   and   what   with 
roaring  at  Aunt  Maria  and  holding  skeins  of 
wool  for  Lady  Farrington,  I  got  such  jumps 
that  I  felt  I  should  scream  unless  I  got  out ; 
so  after  lunch,  while  they  were  both  having 
a  nap  in  their  chairs,  I   slipped    off  for   a 
walk  by  myself —  it  was  still  raining,  but  not 
much  ;  I  took  Fido,  who  is  generally  a  little 
beast,  and  far  too  fat. 

We  had  had  a  nice  scamper,  and  had  turned 
to  come  back  not  far  from  the  Park,  when 
who  do  you  think  came  riding  up? — Lord 
Valmond  !  The  last  person  one  expected 
to  see  down  here  !  He  never  waited  a  second 
when  he  saw  me,  but  jumped  off  his  horse 
and  beamed  — just  as  if  we  had  parted  the 
best  of  friends  !  !  !  Bid  you  ever  hear  such 
impudence  ?  Of  course  I  should  have  walked 
on  without  recognising  him,  if  I  had  been 
left  to  myself,  but  he  took  me  so  by  sur- 
37 


THEVISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Lord  F<?/- prise  that  I  had  shaken  hands  before  I  knew, 
mond  Re-  ^^^    ^^^   j^  ^^g    ^^^    j^^^    ^^   ^^y^    ^^^      j^ 

appears  he  has  a  place  down  here  which  he 
never  comes  to  generally,  but  just  happened 
to  now  —  to  see  how  the  young  pheasants 
were  doing.  He  began  at  once  to  talk,  as 
if  I  had  never  been  angry  or  boxed  his  ears 
at  all !  It  really  exasperated  me,  so  at  last  I 
said  he  had  better  get  on  his  horse  again,  as  I 
wanted  to  run  on  with  Fido  ;  so  then  he  said 
he  had  just  been  on  his  way  to  call  on  Aunt 
Maria,  and  would  come  with  me. 

I  said  I  was  sure  that  was  n't  true,  as  he 
was  going  the  other  way.  So  he  said  that 
he  had  only  been  going  that  way  to  give 
his  horse  a  little  exercise,  and  that  he  in- 
tended to  go  in  at  the  other  gate. 

I  said  I  was  sure  that  was  n't  true 
either,  as  there  was  no  way  round  that 
way,  unless  one  jumped  the  park  palings. 
So  he  said  that  was  what  he  had  intended 
to  do.  Just  then  we  came  to  the  turn- 
stile of  the  right-of-way,  so  I  slipped 
through  and  called  out,  "  Then  I  won't 
keep  you  from  your  exercise,"  and  walked 
on  as  fast  as  I  could. 
38 


HEAVILAND     MANOR 

What    do    you    think  he  did.   Mamma  ?  Lady 

Simply  got  on  his  horse,  and  jumped  those  ^^\^^^Sr 
r  1.  11         IT  >      L-    1    1  tores  Nap 

pahngs  there  and  then  !     1  can  t  thmk  how 

he  was  n't  killed.  There  was  almost  no 
take-ofF,  and  the  fence  is  so  high.  How- 
ever, there  he  was,  and  I  could  not  get  away 
again,  because,  if  I  had  run,  the  horse  could 
easily  have  kept  up  with  me.  But  I  only 
said  "  Yes  "  and  "  No  "  all  the  way  to  the 
house,  so  he  could  not  have  enjoyed  it 
much.  We  went  straight  to  the  drawing- 
room,  where  tea  was  almost  up,  and  there 
was  Lady  Farrington  alone  —  still  asleep, 
and  her  cap  had  fallen  right  back,  and  all 
the  bald  was  showing ;  and  just  then  a  car- 
riage drove  up  to  the  door,  and  we  heard 
visitors  and  the  footsteps  in  the  hall.  I  had 
just  time  to  cry  to  Lord  Valmond,  "Keep 
them  back  while  I  wake  her !  "  and  then  I 
rushed  to  Lady  Farrington,  and  shouted  in 
her  ear,  "  Visitors  !  and  —  and  —  your  cap  is 
a  little  crooked!"  "Eh!  what?"  she 
screamed,  and  her  teeth  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible jumped  on  to  the  carpet.  She  simply 
flew  to  the  mirror,  but,  as  you  know,  it  is 
away  so  high  up  she  couldn't  see,  so  she 
39 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Lady  made  frantic  efforts  with  her  hands,  and  just 
r^'xf"  got  it  to  cover  the  bald,  in  a  rakish,  one- 
sided  way,  when  the  whole  lot  streamed 
into  the  room.  Lord  Valmond  looked 
awfully  uncomfortable.  Goodness  knows 
what  he  had  said  to  them  to  keep  them 
back  !  Anyway,  Harvey  announced  "  Mrs. 
and  the  Misses  Clarke,''  and  a  thin,  very 
high-nosed  person,  followed  by  two  huffish 
girls,  came  forward.  Lady  Farrington  said, 
"  How  d'  ye  do  ? ''  as  well  as  she  could. 
They  were  some  friends  of  hers  and  Aunt 
Maria's,  who  are  staying  with  the  Morverns, 
I  gathered  from  their  conversation.  They 
must  have  thought  she  had  been  on  a  spree 
since  last  they  met !  I  could  hardly  behave 
for  laughing,  and  did  not  dare  to  look  at 
Lord  Valmond. 

They  had  not  been  there  more  than  fiVQ 
minutes  when  another  carriage  arrived,  and 
two  other  ladies  were  announced.  "The 
Misses  Clark  !  "  The  other  Clarkes  glared 
like  tigers,  and  Lady  Farrington  lowered 
her  chin  and  eyelashes  at  them  (she  has  just 
the  same  manners  as  the  people  at  Nazeby, 
although  she  is  such  a  frump  —  it  is  be- 
40 


HEAVILAND      MANOR 

cause  she  is  an  earl's  daughter,  I  suppose),  ^n 
and  she  called  out  to  Harvey  at  the  top  ^^^''''''" 
of  her  voice,  "  Let  Lady  Worden  be  told 
at  once  there  are  visitors."  The  poor  new 
things  looked  so  uncomfortable,  that  I  felt, 
as  I  was  Aunt  Maria's  niece,  I  at  least  must 
be  polite  to  them  ;  so  I  asked  them  to  sit 
down,  and  we  talked.  They  were  jolly, 
fat,  vulgar  souls,  who  have  taken  the  Or- 
tons*  place  they  told  me,  and  this  was  their 
return  visit,  as  the  Ortons  had  asked  Aunt 
Maria  to  call.  They  were  quite  old  maids, 
past  thirty,  with  such  funny,  grand,  best 
smart  Sunday-go-to-meeting  looking  clothes 
on. 

It  appears  that  Harvey  had  sent  a  foot- 
man up  to  Aunt  Maria's  door,  to  tell  of 
the  first  Clarkes'  arrival,  and  then,  terrified 
by  Lady  Farrington's  voice,  had  rushed  up 
himself  to  announce  the  second  lot,  and  he 
met  Aunt  Maria  on  the  stairs  coming  down, 
and  of  course  she  never  heard  the  differ- 
ence between  "  Mrs."  and  the  "  Misses,"  and 
thought  he  was  simply  hurrying  her  up  for 
the  first  set.  So  in  she  sailed  all  smiles, 
and  as  Mrs.  Clarke  was  nearest  the  door, 
41 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

An  she  got  to  her  first,  and  was  so  glad  to  see 

Afternoon  j^^j.^ 

"  Dear,  dear,  years  since  we  met,  Hon- 
oria,"  she  said ;  "  and  these  are  all  your 
bonny  girls,  tut,  tut ! "  and  she  looked  at 
the  fat  Clarks  who  came  next.  "  Ah  !  yes^ 
I  can  see !  What  a  wonderful  likeness  to 
poor  dear  Arthur  !  " 

Furious  glances  from  Mrs.  Clarke,  whose 
daughters  are  my  age  ! 

"  And  this  must  be  Millicent,'*  she  went 
on,  taking  the  second  fat  Clark's  hand. 
"  Yes,  yes ;  why,  she  takes  after  you,  my 
dear  Honoria,  tut,  tut !  "  and  she  squeezed 
hands,  and  beamed  at  them  all  in  the 
kindest  way.  Mrs.  Clarke,  bursting  with 
fury,  tried  to  say  they  were  no  relations 
of  hers  ;  but,  of  course.  Aunt  Maria  could 
not  catch  all  that,  only  the  word  "  rela- 
tions," and  she  then  caught  sight  of  the 
buff  Clarklets  in  the  background. 

"  Ah,  yes !  I  see,  these  are  your  girls  ; 
I  have  mistaken  your  other  relations  for 
them."  Then  she  turned  again  to  the  fat 
Clarks,  evidently  liking  their  jolly  faces 
best.  "  But  one  can  see  they  are  Clarkes. 
42 


HEAVILAND      MANOR 

Let  me  guess.  Yes,  they  must  be  poor  A 
Henry's  children  !  "  At  this.  Lord  Val-  ^jl^^^Ln 
mond  had  such  a  violent  fit  of  choking 
by  the  tea-table,  that  Aunt  Maria,  who 
hears  the  oddest,  most  unexpected  things, 
caught  that,  and  saw  him,  and  saying, 
"  How  d'  ye  do?  "  created  a  diversion.  Pre- 
sently I  heard  Lady  Farrington  roaring  in 
a  whisper  into  her  ears  the  difference  be- 
tween the  Clarkes  and  the  Clarks,  and  the 
poor  dear  was  so  upset ;  but  her  kind 
heart  came  up  trumps,  and  she  was  awfully 
nice  to  the  two  vulgar  Clarks,  who  had 
the  good  sense  to  go  soon,  and  then  the 
others  went.  Then  she  got  Lord  Valmond 
on  to  her  sofa,  and  he  screamed  such  heaps 
of  nice  things  into  her  ear,  just  as  if  she 
had  been  Mrs.  Smith,  and  she  was  so 
pleased.  And  Uncle  John  came  in,  and 
they  talked  about  the  pheasants,  and  he 
asked  Lord  Valmond  to  dinner  on  Satur- 
day night  (to-morrow),  and  he  looked 
timidly  at  me,  to  see  if  I  was  still  angry 
with  him  and  wanted  him  not  to  come,  so 
I  smiled  sweetly^  and  he  accepted  joyfully. 
Is  n't  it  lovely.  Mamma  ?  I  shall  be  home 
43 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  with    you    by    then,  and  Lady    Farrington 

Friendly  ^^^  j^j^j^j.  Qrwell  are  going  too  !  So  he 
will  have  to  play  dummy  whist  all  the 
evening  with  Uncle  and  Aunt,  and  eat  his 
dinner  at  half-past  six  !  Now,  good-night. 
—  Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth, 


44 


HAZELDENE     COURT 


Hazeldene  Court, 

Tuesday^  ^th  August, 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  There  is  a  huge  jf,g 
party  here  for  the  Horse  Show,  and  I  Horse 
daresay  I  shall  enjoy  myself.  We  had  no  ^"^"^ 
sooner  got  into  the  station  at  Paddington 
than  in  the  distance  I  caught  sight  of  Lord 
Valmond.  I  pretended  not  to  see  him,  and 
got  behind  a  barrow  of  trunks,  and  then 
slipped  into  the  carriage  and  made  Agnes 
sit  by  the  door.  We  saw  him  walking  up 
and  down,  and,  just  before  the  train  started, 
he  came  and  got  into  our  carriage.  He 
seemed  awfully  surprised  to  see  me,  said 
he  had  not  an  idea  he  should  meet  me, 
and  apologised  for  disturbing  me,  but  he 
said  all  the  other  carriages  were  full.  He 
seemed  so  uppish  and  unconcerned  that  I 
felt  obliged  to  ask  him  how  he  enjoyed 
his  dinner  with  Aunt  Maria  on  Saturday. 
He  said  he  had  enjoyed  it  awfully,  and 
that  Aunt  Maria  was  a  charming  hostess. 
He  asked  me  if  I  was  going  far  down  the 
line,  or  only  just  on  the  river.  I  said  not 
very  far.  I  tried  to  be  as  stiff  as  possible 
45 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Lord  and  not  speak,  and  I  did  not  tell  him 
Valmond  ^\^^^^  \  ^^s  going,  but,  do  you  know. 
Mamma,  there  is  no  snubbing  him.  He 
said  at  once  that  he  was  going  to  Hazel- 
dene  Court,  to  stay  with  his  cousins  the 
Westaways.  I  said,  "Indeed!"  and  he 
said,  "  Yes,  are  n't  they  cousins  of  yours 
too  ? "  and  when  I  said  "  Yes,"  he  said 
he  felt  sure  we  were  related,  and  might  n't 
he  call  me  Elizabeth  ! ! !  I  just  told  him 
I  thought  him  the  rudest,  most  detestable 
man  I  had  ever  met;  and  if  he  spoke  to 
me  again  at  all,  I  should  ask  the  guard  to 
find  me  another  carriage. 

He  was  awfully  surprised,  and  said  he 
had  not  meant  to  be  the  least  rude ;  he 
thought  it  was  the  custom  for  cousins  to 
call  each  other  by  their  Christian  names, 
and  his  name  was  Harry.  (Just  as  if  I 
did  not  know  that,  after  hearing  Mrs. 
Smith  calling  him  every  few  minutes !)  I 
said  in  a  freezing  tone  we  were  not 
related  in  any  way,  and  I  wished  to  read 
the  paper,  upon  which  he  produced 
every  imaginable  kind,  lots  of  ladies' 
papers  that  he  could  not  possibly  have 
46 


HAZELDENE      COURT 

wanted  for  himself.  I  don't  know  who  The 
he  expected  to  meet.  However,  I  would  ^^^^^^S 
not  have  any  of  them,  but  looked  at  a 
Punch  I  had  bought  myself.  You  know 
that  uncomfortable  feeling  one  has  when 
some  one  is  staring  at  one  —  it  makes  one 
obliged  to  look  up  —  so  after  a  while  our 
eyes  met  over  the  Punchy  and  he  smiled, 
and  his  teeth  are  so  white.  All  he  said 
was,  "  I  was  thinking  of  the  Clarkes  and 
Clarks."  And  in  spite  of  my  being  indig- 
nant with  him  I  could  not  help  laughing, 
when  I  remembered  about  them,  and  then 
it  was  hard  to  be  very  stiff  again  at  once. 

Just  about  this  time  Agnes  went  to  sleep 
in  the  other  corner,  and  the  moment  Lord 
Valmond  saw  she  was  really  off,  he  bent  for- 
ward and  said  in  such  a  humble  voice,  that 
he  was  sorry  he  had  offended  me  at  Nazeby ; 
he  had  yielded  to  a  sudden  temptation,  and 
he  could  only  ask  me  to  forgive  him.  He 
had  quite  mistaken  my  character  he  said, 
he  now  saw  I  was  a  serious  person,  but  he 
had  been  deceived  by  the  dimple  in  my  left 
cheek.  (Now  is  n't  it  provoking.  Mamma, 
to  have  a  dimple  like  that,  that  gives 
47 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

The  people   the  impression  they  may  treat  you 

^^'^^^'^^ with  want  of  respect?)  I  said  I  did  not 
believe  a  word  of  it,  and>  as  we  were  only 
the  merest  acquaintances,  it  did  not  matter 
whether  I  forgave  him  or  not,  and  I  hoped 
he  would  not  mention  the  subject  again. 
He  then  asked  me  if  I  was  going  to  stop 
at  Hazeldene  until  Saturday.  So  you  see. 
Mamma,  he  must  have  known  I  was  going 
there  all  along ;  are  n't  men  odd  ?  You 
can't  trust  them  one  minute  not  to  be  de- 
ceiving you,  only  I  think  on  the  whole  I 
prefer  them  to  women,  they  can't  copy  your 
clothes  at  all  events.  After  that  he  seemed 
to  think  we  had  quite  made  everything 
up,  and  went  on  talking  in  the  friendliest 
way,  but  I  would  not  thaw ;  he  shall  not 
have  the  chance  of  blaming  my  dimple 
again  for  any  of  his  rhisconduct !  At  last 
I  said  I  hated  talking  in  the  train,  and  pre- 
tended to  go  to  sleep.  But  I  could  not 
get  really  off,  because  every  time  I  opened 
my  eyes  just  to  see  where  we  were,  I 
found  him  looking  at  me.  A  huge  omni- 
bus was  waiting  for  us  when  we  arrived, 
and  several  more  guests  had  come  by  the 
48 


HAZELDENE      COURT 

same  train  and  we  all  drove  to  the    house  ^w 

together.      They  were    having;   tea    on    the  ^/^^'^^'^^ 

1  T     J      XX7  J  Woman 

croquet  lawn — Lady   Westaway  and  some 

other  people,  and  the  eldest  son's  wife. 
You  remember  what  a  fuss  there  was  when 
he  married,  how  Lady  Westaway  had  hys- 
terics for  three  days.  Well,  she  looks  as 
if  she  could  have  them  again  any  moment. 
Mrs.  Westaway  is  awfully  pretty.  She  was 
lying  in  a  swing  chair,  showing  lots  of 
petticoat  and  ankle.  The  ankle  is  n't  bad, 
but  the  petticoat  had  common  lace  on  it. 
She  has  huge  turquoise  earrings,  and  very 
stick-out  hair  arranged  to  look  untidy  with 
tongs.  She  smiles  all  the  time,  and  wears 
lots  of  different  colours.  She  calls  every 
one  by  their  Christian  names,  and  always 
catches  hold  of  the  men's  coats,  or  fixes 
their  buttonholes  or  ties,  or  holds  their 
arms  and  whispers  :  and  every  one  is  in  love 
with  her,  and  she  has  the  greatest  success. 
So  I  can't  think.  Mamma,  why  you  have 
always  told  me  never  to  do  any  of  these 
things,  when  you  want  me  to  be  a  success 
so  much.  Her  voice  is  dreadfully  shrill, 
and  such  an  odd  pronunciation,  but  no  one 
4  49 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


Jn  seems  to  mind  that.     I  rather  like  her,  she 


Attractive : 
JVoman 


IS 


SO  jolly  but  some  of  the  women  of  the 
party  won't  speak  to  her,  except  to  say 
disagreeable  things.  Jane  Roose  is  here, 
she  has  been  here  since  she  left  Nazeby 
(Violet  is  at  the  sea),  and  she  came  up  to 
my  room  as  we  were  going  to  dress,  and  I 
have  only  just  got  rid  of  her.  She  told 
me  Mrs.  Westaway  was  a  "  dreadful  crea- 
ture," and  that  no  one  would  know  her,  if 
it  was  not  for  her  mother-in-law  receiving 
her,  so  they  can't  help  it.  And  she  could 
not  understand  what  the  men  saw  to  ad- 
mire in  a  low  person  like  that.  But  I  can 
see  very  well.  Mamma,  she  is  as  pretty  as 
can  be,  and  probably  the  men  don't  notice 
about  the  lace  being  common,  and  all  the 
colours,  and  those  things.  I  must  go  down 
to  dinner  now,  so  good-bye,  dear  Mamma. — 
Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


50 


HAZELDENE      COURT 


Hazeldene  Court, 

Thursday^  iith  August, 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  shall  be  home  with  Lady 
you  almost  as  soon  as  you  get  this.  But  ^.  ^  ^ 
I  must  tell  you  about  these  last  two  days.  ^/^^^ 
The  man  I  went  in  to  dinner  with  the  first 
night  was  so  nice-looking,  only  he  did  not 
seem  as  if  he  could  collect  his  thoughts 
enough  to  finish  his  sentences,  and  it  left 
them  sounding  so  silly  sometimes,  but  I 
found  out  before  we  had  begun  the  entrees 
that  it  was  because  Mrs.  Westaway  was 
sitting  opposite,  and  he  was  gazing  at  her. 
She  looked  lovely,  but  not  like  any  one  I 
have  seen  yet  since  I  stayed  out.  She  had 
a  diamond  collar  and  two  ropes  of  pearls 
(Jane  Roose  said  they  were  imitation),  and 
her  arms  quite  bare  and  very  white,  but  her 
skin  must  come  off,  because  I  could  see  a 
patch  of  white  on  a  footman's  coat  where 
she  accidentally  touched  when  helping  her- 
self to  potatoes.  She  had  a  huge  tulle  bow 
in  her  hair,  and  her  earrings  were  as  big  as 
shillings.  Lady  Bobby  Pomeroy  said  after- 
wards in  the  drawing-room  to  Jane  Roose 
51 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Lady         that  she  should  not  take  any  more  of  her 
^.  y  ^      meals    downstairs    with    this    creature ;    and 

JDl'UCT— 

^Iq^^  she  would  not  have  come  only  that  Bobby 

insisted,  as  he  was  showing  some  horses, 
and  it  is  convenient.  And  so,  do  you  know. 
Mamma,  Lady  Bobby  has  never  come  out 
of  her  room  since,  except  just  to  go  to  the 
Horse  Show,  which  she  drove  to  with  Mrs. 
Mannering  in  a  hired  fly.  I  don't  call  it 
very  polite  to  the  hostess,  do  you  ?  This 
afternoon  she  amused  herself  from  her  bed- 
room window  by  shooting  at  rabbits  just 
beyond  the  wire  fence  of  the  lawn  with  a 
rook  rifle ;  she  did  not  hit  any  rabbits,  but 
she  got  a  gardener  in  the  leg,  and  the  man 
was  very  angry,  and  bled  a  great  deal,  and 
had  to  be  taken  away,  and  I  think  it  was 
very  careless  of  her,  don't  you  ? 

Lord  Valmond  was  on  his  way  to  the 
window  seat  where  Jane  Roose  and  I  were 
sitting  the  first  night  after  dinner,  but 
Mrs.  Westaway  caught  hold  of  her  hus- 
band's coat-tails  as  he  passed  and  said  quite 
loud,  "  Duckie,  you  must  bring  Lord 
Valmond  and  introduce  him  to  me,  we 
haven't  met  yet,  and  I  want  to  know  all 
52 


HAZELDENE     COURT 

your  friends."  So  Billy  Westaway,  who  Two  is 
is  as  obedient  as  a  spaniel,  secured  Lord  ^°^P^^y 
Valmond,  and  presently  we  saw  them 
comfortably  tucked  into  a  small  settee 
together,  and  there  they  stayed  all  the 
evening.  She  kept  licking  her  lips  as 
if  he  was  something  good  to  eat,  and  the 
next  morning  she  fixed  a  rose  in  his  button- 
hole at  breakfast  and  called  him  "  Cousin 
Val,''  and  by  lunch  time  it  was  plain  ''  Val," 
and  now  it  is  "  Harry."  I  do  call  it  bad 
taste,  don't  you.  Mamma  ?  and  she  is  n*t 
half  so  pretty  in  broad  daylight,  and  I 
don't  like  her  at  all  now.  Only  I  can't 
help  laughing  at  Lady  Westaway's  face 
when  "  Phyllis "  (that  is  Mrs.  Westaway's 
name)  says  anything  especially  vulgar ;  Lady 
Westaways  shudders,  and  takes  a  huge  sniflF 
at  her  smelling  salts.  She  keeps  them  always 
with  her  in  a  long  gold-topped  bottle,  and 
she  has  to  use  them  almost  every  few  minutes 
when  Mrs.  Westaway  is  in  the  room. 

The  Horse  Show  was  rather  nice ;  it  is 

held  in  the  park  fairly  close,  and  most  of  us 

strolled  there  in  the  morning  before  lunch 

to  see  the  judging.     Lord  Valmond  joined 

53 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Two  is  us,  I  was  walking  with  Lord  George  Lane 
Company  (jQ^i  remember  he  was  one  of  the  Eleven 
at  Nazeby).  I  was  in  a  very  good  temper. 
Mamma,  and  we  had  been  laughing  at  every- 
thing we  said.  He  is  quite  a  nice  idiot,  but, 
when  Lord  Valmond  came,  of  course  I  talked 
as  stiffly  as  possibly,  and  presently  Lord 
George  told  him  that  he  was  singularly 
backward  in  copybook  maxims,  and  that 
there  was  one  he  ought  to  write  out  and 
commit  to  memory,  and  it  began  with 
"  Two 's  Company,"  upon  which  Lord  Val- 
mond stalked  on  in  a  rage. 

The  seats  at  the  show  were  very  hard 
boards,  and  the  sun  made  one  awfully 
drowsy ;  but  about  half-an-hour  before 
lunch  Lord  Valmond  came  up  again, 
and  asked  me  if  I  should  not  like  to 
go  for  a  turn.  I  thought  I  had  better, 
so  as  not  to  get  cramp.  He  said  he 
had  been  afraid  he  would  never  get  the 
chance  of  speaking  to  me,  I  was  always  so 
surrounded.  I  told  him  I  had  only  come 
now  because  of  the  cramp.  I  am  quite 
determined.  Mamma,  not  to  unbend  to  him 
at  all.  I  was  not  once  agreeable,  or  any- 
54 


HAZELDENE     COURT 

thing  but  stiff  and  snubbing,  and  I  am  sure  On  the 
he  has  never  been  treated  like  that  before,  ^^^' 
but  it  is  awfully  hard  work  keeping  it  up 
all  the  time,  and  when  we  got  in  to  lunch 
I  was  quite  tired. 

There  were  numbers  of  people  at  the 
show  in  the  afternoon,  and  all  in  their 
best  clothes.  Lady  Grace  Fenton  was 
showing  two  of  her  hunters,  and  she 
kept  shouting  to  the  grooms,  and  I  did 
not  think  it  was  very  attractive  behaviour. 
She  takes  such  strides  you  would  think  her 
muslin  dress  would  split.  I  don't  know 
why  it  is  that  so  many  people  in  the  coun- 
try are  ugly  and  weather-beaten,  and  all 
their  clothes  hanging  wrong. 

Except  the  house  party  here,  and  a  few 
from  other  big  places,  there  was  not  a  pretty 
person  to  be  seen.  We  had  a  special  reserved 
tent  for  tea,  and  Mrs.  Westaway  seemed  to 
have  every  man  in  the  place  round  her,  and 
I  heard  one  man  come  up  and  say,  "  Well, 
Phyllis,  this  is  a  joke  to  find  you  in  this 
respectable  hole ;  how  do  you  like  solid 
matrimony,  old  girl  ?  "  and  I  do  think  that 
sounded  familiar  and  rude,  don't  you, 
55 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

On  the  Mamma  ?  but  Mrs.  Westaway  was  n't  a 
^^^^  bit  angry.  She  calls  Billy  "  Duckie/'  and 
continually  pats  and  caresses  him  ;  he  does 
look  such  a  fool,  and  I  should  hate  to 
be  fingered  like  that  if  I  were  a  man, 
one  must  feel  like  a  bunch  of  grapes  with 
the  bloom  being  rubbed  off.  Mrs.  West- 
away kept  Lord  Valmond  with  her  all  the 
rest  of  the  time  at  the  show,  and  then  took 
him  on  the  lake  while  we  played  croquet. 

Lady  Bobby  went  straight  to  her  room 
and  sat  by  the  window,  and  every  now  and 
then  shouted  advice  to  Lord  George  who 
was  playing  with  me.  When  we  had  finished. 
Lady  Westaway  took  me  to  see  the  con- 
servatories, and  there  we  were  joined  by 
old  Colonel  Blake  and  Lord  Valmond,  I 
don't  know  how  he  had  torn  himself  away 
from  Mrs.  Westaway !  Jane  Roose  says 
Mrs.  Smith  would  be  mad  if  she  was  here. 
He  asked  me  why  I  had  walked  on  ahead 
so  fast  on  the  way  back  from  the  Show  as 
he  wanted  me  to  go  on  the  lake  with 
him  instead  of  Mrs.  Westaway.  When 
he  had  suggested  going  on  it  he  had 
looked  at  me,  but  I  would  take  no  notice, 
56 


HAZELDENE      COURT 

and  so  he  was  obliged  to  go  with  Mrs.  P^ul  and 
Westaway  when  she  offered  to  come,  and  ^^^i^^*^ 
I  was  very  unkind  and  disagreeable.  I  just 
said  if  he  found  me  so,  he  need  not  speak 
to  me  at  all,  I  did  not  care.  We  looked 
at  one  another  like  two  wild  cats  for  a 
moment.  I  am  sure  he  wanted  to  slap  me, 
and  I  should  like  to  have  scratched  him, 
and  then  Lady  Westaway  diverted  the  con- 
versation by  asking  me  if  I  thought  I  should 
enjoy  my  French  visit  (how  every  one  knows 
one's  affairs  !).  I  said  I  hoped  I  should, 
and  I  was  starting  next  week.  Lord  Val- 
mond  at  once  pricked  up  his  ears,  and 
said  he  would  be  running  over  to  Paris 
about  then,  as  he  was  not  going  to 
Scotland  till  September,  and  he  hoped  I 
would  let  him  look  after  me  on  the  way. 
I  said  I  did  not  know  which  day  I  was 
going,  probably  Wednesday,  so  as  I  am 
starting  on  Monday,  Mamma,  there  will  be 
no  chance  of  his  coming  with  me,  which 
would  annoy  you  very  much  I  am  sure. 
To-day  we  have  done  nothing  but  loll 
about  and  play  croquet.  Lady  Bobby  and 
the  men  and  some  other  women  went  to 
57 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Paul  and  the  Show  again  in  the  morning,  but  I  was 
yirginia    having  a  match  with  Jane  Roose,  and  so  we 
did  not  bother  to  go. 

This  afternoon  when  Lady  Bobby  began 
her  rabbit  shooting  it  seemed  so  danger- 
ous on  the  croquet  lawn,  especially  after 
she  hit  the  gardener,  that  we  all  went 
on  the  lake  in  the  launch.  We  landed 
on  the  island,  and  somehow  or  other 
Lord  Valmond  and  I  got  left  alone  in  the 
Belvedere  looking  at  the  view.  The  others 
went  off  without  us,  which  made  me  furi- 
ous, as  I  am  sure  he  did  it  on  purpose. 
But  when  I  accused  him  of  it,  he  said  such 
a  thing  would  never  have  entered  his  head. 
He  had  a  nasty  smile  all  the  time  in  the 
corner  of  his  eye,  and  did  not  take  the 
least  pains  about  trying  to  undo  the  other 
little  boat  which  we  found  at  last,  although 
I  kept  telling  him  we  should  be  late  for 
dinner.  He  said  he  wished  we  had  not 
to  go  back  at  all,  that  he  thought  we 
should  be  very  happy  together  on  this 
little  island  like  Paul  and  Virginia.  I 
can't  tell  you.  Mamma,  what  a  temper  I 
was  in. 

58 


HAZELDENE     COURT 

I  wish  I  had  never  met  him  —  or  that  he  The 
had  not  been  rude  at  Nazeby — it  is  so  difficult  ^f'^^- 
to  behave  with  dignity  when  a  person  has  a  Marquh 
nice  voice  and  makes  you  laugh,  although 
you    are    awfully    cross    with     him    inside. 
Then   I    have  to   be  thinking  all  the  time 
about  my  dimple  not  to  let  it  come  out,  as 
that  is  what  caused  his  rudeness,  and  with 
one  thing  and  another  it  upsets  me  so,  that 
my  cheeks  are  always  burning  when  I  am 
with  him,  and  I  feel  as  if  I  should  like  to 
box  his  ears   or  cry  ;  and   I   hope  after  to- 
morrow I  shall  never  see  him  again.     He 
rowed  so  slowly  when  we  did  get  into  the 
boat  that  I   offered  to  do  it,  but  he  would 
not  let  me.     I  would  not  talk  to  him  at  all. 
When  we  got  to  the  landing  I  jumped  out 
so  that  he  should   not  help  me,  and  gave 
my   head  a   crack   against  the   pole  in   the 
boat  house.     I  fancied  I  heard  him  saying, 
"  Darling  !  have  you  hurt  yourself?     What 
a  brute  I  am  to  tease  you  ! "  but  I   did  not 
wait  for  any  more.     I  ran  to  the  house  as 
fast  as   I  could,  and   as  he   had   to   tie  up 
the  boat,  I   was  just  getting  into   the  hall 
when    he  caught    me  up.     My    head    hurt 
59 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

The  dreadfully,  and  I  was  so  tired  and  cross,  and 

,       "       everything,  that  the  tears  would  come  into 
ships  of  a  ^  T     1  •  1  1  •  1 

Marquis    "^7  ^7^^.     1  did  not  want  him  to  see,  but 

I  am  afraid  he  did,  so  before  he  could  speak 

I  rushed   on  again   and   got   safely    to   my 

room.     I    am  sure  it  is  very    rude   to  call 

people  "darling"  without  their  leave,  is n*t 

it.  Mamma  ? 

I    went    in    to    dinner   with    a    sporting 

curate     who     lives     near,    and     he     kept 

making  his  bread  into  crumbs  on  the  cloth 

and  then  sweeping  them  up  with  his  knife 

into  a  heap,  between  every  course.     What 

strange   habits  people   have !     After  dinner 

Mrs.   Westaway   took   Lord  Valmond  and 

sat  in  the  window  seat,  and  when   he   did 

get  away,  and  was  coming  over  to  me,  I  said 

my  head  was  aching  from  the  knock  I  gave 

it,  and  came  up  to  bed,  and  as  he  has  to 

catch  an  early  train  in  the  morning  I  shan't 

come  down  until  he  has  gone.     I  don't  want 

to   see    him  any   more,   it    is   too   fatiguing 

quarrelling  all  the  time,  and  one  could  not 

forgive  him  and  be  friends  I  suppose  after 

such  behaviour  as  his  at  Nazeby  —  could  one. 

Mamma? 

6o 


HAZELDENE      COURT 

Now  good-night  ;  I  am  sleepy.  —  Your  The 

aiFectionate  daughter,  Hard- 

^  ships  of  a 

Elizabeth.      ^^^^-^.^ 

P.S.  —  I  should  hate  to  be  a  marquis  al- 
ways having  to  take  the  hostess  in  to  dinner 
no  matter  how  old  and  ugly  she  is,  just 
because  a  duke  is  n't  present. 


6i 


Chateau  de   Croixmare 


CHATEAU     DE     CROIXMARE 


Chateau  de  Croixmare, 
i6th  August. 

DEAREST  MAMMA,  — What  d.  J  For- 
crossing  we  had,  perfectly  disgust-  ^^^^^^^ 
ing !  The  sky  was  without  a  V 
cloud,  but  such  a  wind  that  every  one  was 
sick,  so  one  could  not  enjoy  oneself.  Agnes 
became  rapidly  French  too  directly  we 
landed  at  Dieppe,  and  the  carriage  was  full 
of  stuffy  people,  who  would  not  have  a 
scrap  of  window  open  ;  however,  Jean  was 
waiting  for  us  at  Paris.  We  snatched  some 
food  at  the  restaurant,  and  then  caught  the 
train  to  Vinant.  Jean  is  quite  good-looking, 
but  with  an  awfully  respectable  expression. 
Any  one  could  tell  he  was  married  even 
without  looking  at  his  wedding  ring.  He 
was  polite,  and  made  conversation  all  the 
time  in  the  train,  and  as  the  engine  kept 
5  es 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELI  Z  A  BETH 

A  For-      puffing    and    shrieking     I    was    obliged    to 

mMle      continually    say    ''Pardon?''  so  it  made  it 

mother       rather  heavy.     I  think    he    has   changed  a 

good  deal  since  their  wedding  —  let  me  see 

—  that  must   be  eight  years  ago,  as   I  was 

nine  then ;  I  hardly  remembered  him. 

Godmamma  was  waiting  for  us  in  the 
hall  when  we  arrived.  Chateau  de  Croix- 
mare  is  a  nice  place,  but  I  am  glad  I  am 
not  French.  It  was  the  hottest  night  of 
the  year  almost,  and  not  a  breath  of  air 
in  the  house,  every  shutter  closed  and  the 
curtains  drawn.  Heloise  had  gone  to  bed 
with  a  migraine^  Godmamma  explained,  but 
Victorine  was  there.  She  has  grown  up 
plain,  and  looks  much  more  than  five 
years  older  than  me.  They  were  n't  in 
evening  dress,  or  even  tea-gowns  like  in 
England  —  it  did  seem  strange. 

Mme.  de  Croixmare  looks  a  dragon  !  I 
can't  think  how  poor  papa  insisted  upon 
my  having  such  a  godmother.  Her  face 
is  quite  white,  and  her  hair  so  black  and 
drawn  off  her  forehead,  and  she  has  a 
bristly  moustache.  She  is  also  very  up- 
right and  thin,  and  walks  with  an  ebony 
66 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

stick,  and  her  voice  is  like  a  peacock's.  ^  For- 
She  looked  me  through  and  through,  and  "^^f^' 
I  felt  all  my  French  getting  jumbled,  and  another 
it  came  out  with  such  an  English  accent ; 
and  after  we  had  bowed  a  good  deal,  and 
said  heaps  of  Ollendorfish  kind  of  sen- 
tences, I  was  given  some  "  sirop "  and 
water,  and  conducted  to  bed  by  Victorine. 
She  is  a  big  dump  with  a  shiny  com- 
plexion, and  such  a  very  small  mouth, 
and  I  am  sure  I  shall  hate  her,  she  is  n't 
a  bit  good-natured-looking  like  Jean.  The 
house  is  really  fine  Louis  XV.,  and  my 
bedroom  and  cabinet  de  toilette  are  de- 
licious, so  is  my  bed ;  but  the  attitude  of 
Agnes  —  such  a  conscious  pride  in  the  supe- 
riority of  France  —  nearly  drove  me  mad. 

There  is  n't  a  decent  dressing-table  mirror, 
only  one  in  an  old  silver  frame  about  eight 
inches  square,  and  that  is  sitting  on  the 
writing-table  —  or  what  would  be  the  writing- 
table,  if  there  happened  to  be  any  pens  and 
things,  which  there  are  n't.  All  the  hanging 
places  open  out  of  the  panels  of  the  wall, 
there  are  no  wardrobes,  only  beautiful 
marble-topped  bureaux;  but  I  was  so  tired 
67 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  French  \  left  Agnes  to  settle  everything  and 
Fmntly  at  jumped  into  bed.  This  morning  I  woke 
early,  and  had  the  loveliest  cup  of  chocolate, 
but  such  a  silly  bath,  and  almost  cold  water. 
There  are  no  housemaids,  and  nothing  is 
done  with  precise  regularity  like  at  home, 
although  they  are  so  rich.  Agnes  had  to 
fish  for  everything  of  that  sort  herself,  and 
such  a  lot  of  talking  went  on  in  the 
passage  between  her  and  the  valet  de 
chamhre^  before  I  even  got  this  teeny  tiny 
tray  to  splash  in.  However,  I  did  get 
dressed  at  last,  and  went  for  a  walk  in 
the  garden  —  not  a  soul  about  but  a  few 
gardeners.  The  begonias  are  magnificent, 
but  there  is  no  look  of  park  beyond  the 
garden,  or  nice  deer  and  things  that  we 
would  have  for  such  a  house  in  England. 
It  is  more  like  a  sort  of  big  villa. 

I  saw  Jean  at  last  in  the  distance,  going 
round  and  round  a  large  pond  on  his 
bicycle.  He  did  look  odd  !  in  a  thick 
striped  jersey,  and  the  tightest  knicker- 
bockers;  almost  as  low  as  a  "scorcher.'* 
He  jumped  off  and  made  a  most  polite 
bow,  and  explained  he  was  doing  it  for 
68 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

exercise.  But  I  do  think  that  an  idiotic  A  French 
reason  —  don't  you.  Mamma  ?  It  would  be  ^'"'^^  ^* 
just  as  much  exercise  on  a  road.  How- 
ever, he  assured  me  that,  Hke  that,  he 
knew  exactly  how  many  miles  he  went  on 
the  flat  before  breakfast,  so  I  suppose  it 
was  all  right. 

I  saw  he  wanted  to  continue  his  ride, 
so  I  walked  on,  and  presently  came  to  a 
summer-house,  where  Victorine  and  the 
dame  de  compagnie  were  doing  their  morn- 
ing reading.  There  were  also  the  two 
little  girls  building  castles  out  of  a  heap 
of  sand,  and  with  them  the  most  hideous 
German  maid  you  ever  saw.  They  are 
queer-looking  little  monkeys,  Yolande  is 
like  Jean,  but  Marie  —  there  are  three 
years  between  them  —  is  as  black  as  ink  — 
but  where  was  I  ?  Oh,  yes  !  —  well,  by 
this  time  I  was  so  hungry  I  could  have 
eaten  them,  German  honne  and  all  ! 
Fortunately  Godmamma  turned  up,  and 
we  strolled  back  to  dejeuner.  Heloise 
was  in  the  salon,  and  she  is  charming, 
such  a  contrast  to  the  rest  of  the  party. 
She  was  beautifully  dressed  and  so  chic, 
69 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

J  French  We    took    to  each   other  at    once,  she  has 
Family  at  ^^^    picked    up    that    solid    married    look 
^^^        like     Jean,    so    perhaps     it     is    only    the 
husbands  who  get  it  in  France. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  ceremony 
going  in  to  breakfast.  Jean  gave  his 
mother  his  arm,  and  we  trotted  behind. 
The  dining-room  is  a  perfect  room,  except 
there  is  no  carpet,  and  the  food  was 
lovely,  only  I  do  hate  to  see  a  great 
hand  covered  with  a  white  cotton  glove, 
plopping  a  dish  down  on  the  lighted 
thing  in  the  middle,  so  that  one  has  to 
look  at  the  next  course  all  the  time  one 
is  finishing  the  last  one.  The  way  in 
which  the  two  little  monkeys  and  the 
German  maid  devoured  their  breakfast 
quite  took  one's  appetite  away.  There 
seemed  to  be  numbers  of  men-servants, 
who  wore  white  cotton  gloves,  and  their 
liveries  buttoned  up  to  the  throat,  which 
takes  away  that  nice  clean-shirt-look  of 
our  servants  at  home. 

This    afternoon    we  are  going   to   pay    a 
visit     of    ceremony     to    the     Comte    and 
Comtesse     de     Tournelle ;    we    are    going 
70 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

with  them  on  their  yacht  down  the  Seine  French 
to-morrow.  It  is  Jean  and  Heloise  who  ^^^'^^^^^ 
have  arranged  to  take  me  —  it  is  kind  of 
them,  and  it  will  be  fun  ;  and  I  am  glad 
it  is  not  considered  proper  for  young 
French  girls  to  go  without  their  mothers, 
because  we  shall  get  rid  of  Victorine,  and 
the  voyage  will  be  more  agreeable.  Agnes 
and  the  other  maids  and  valets  are  going  by 
train,  and  will  meet  us  with  the  luggage  at 
the  different  places  we  stop  at  each  night, 
as  the  Sauterelle  is  too  small  to  carry  every- 
thing. I  must  go  and  get  ready  now,  so 
good-bye,  dear  Mamma. — Your  affectionate 
daughter,  Elizabeth. 


71 


"  Sau 
terelle 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


Yacht  SauterelU^ 
jph  August, 

Yacht  Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  am  writing  as  we 

float  down  the  Seine,  it  is  too  enchanting. 
We  are  a  party  of  ten.  The  Comte  and 
Comtesse  de  Tournelle ;  her  mother,  the 
Baronne  de  Larnac,  and  her  uncle,  the  Baron 
de  Fremond,  Jean,  Heloise,  and  me ;  the 
Marquise  de  Vermondoise,  and  two  young 
men,  officers  in  the  Cavalry,  stationed  at 
Versailles.  One  is  the  Vicomte  Gaston  de 
la  Tremors,  and  the  other's  name  is  so  long 
that  I  can't  get  it,  so  you  must  know  him 
by  "  Antoine  *'  —  he  is  some  sort  of  a  rela- 
tion of  Heloise's.  The  Baronne  is  a  de- 
lightful person,  the  remains  of  extreme  good 
looks  and  distinction.  She  was  a  beauty 
under  the  Empire,  and  her  feet  are  so 
small,  she  is  just  as  soign'ee  as  if  she  was 
young,  and  so  vain  and  human.  She  lives 
with  her  daughter  while  they  are  in  the 
country  —  it  seems  the  custom  here,  these 
huge  family  parties  living  together  all  the 
summer.  The  young  people  have  their 
appartement  in  the  Champs  Elysees  in  Paris, 
72 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

and  the  old  ones  go  to  the  family  hotel  ^  Visit 
in  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  We  did  say  ^  ^^^~ 
a  lot  of  polite  things  when  we  went  to 
pay  our  visit  yesterday,  and  although  they 
know  one  another  so  well  —  as  it  was  a 
"  visit  of  ceremony  "  to  introduce  me  — 
we  all  had  our  best  clothes  on,  and  sat 
in  the  large  salon  —  (there  are  four  Louis 
XVI.  arm  chairs,  sticking  out  each  side 
of  the  fireplaces,  in  all  the  salons  here). 
Heloise  and  the  Comtesse  de  Tournelle 
are  great  friends.  The  Comte  de  Tournelle 
is  charming,  he  is  like  the  people  in  the 
last  century  Memoirs,  he  ought  to  have 
powdered  hair,  and  his  manners  have  a 
distinction  and  a  wit  quite  unlike  any- 
thing in  England.  One  can  see  he  is 
descended  from  people  who  had  their 
heads  cut  off  for  being  aristocrats.  Jean 
says  he  does  not  belong  to  le  Sporting^  and  is 
fearfully  effeminate.  He  can't  even  put 
on  his  own  socks  without  his  valet,  and 
he  never  rides  or  bicycles  or  anything,  but 
just  does  a  little  motor-earring,  and  fights 
a  few  duels. 

The     Comtesse    de    Tournelle    is    small 
73 


mony 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Visit  and  young  and  rather  dull ;  she  reads  a 
'I2r'  g^^^t  ^^^^'  The  old  boy,  the  Baron  de 
Fremond  (he  owns  the  Sauterelle)  is  a 
jolly  old  soul,  and  chaffs  his  sister  and  niece, 
and  every  one,  all  the  time,  and  thinks  it 
so  funny  to  talk  fearful  English.  The 
two  young  men  have  n't  looked  at  me  much. 
They  are  in  uniform!  and  they  put  their 
heels  together  and  bowed  deeply  when  they 
were  introduced,  but  we  have  n't  spoken  yet. 
The  Marquise  de  Vermondoise  is  perfectly 
lovely,  so  fascinating,  with  such  a  queer 
deep  voice,  and  one  tooth  at  the  side  of 
the  front  missing;  and  her  tongue  keeps 
getting  in  there  when  she  speaks,  which 
gives  her  a  kind  of  lisp,  and  it  is  awfully 
attractive.  I  think  de  Tournelle  would  Kke 
to  kiss  her,  by  the  way  he  looked  at  her 
when  she  thanked  him  for  handing  her  on 
board. 

It  is  a  steam  yacht  with  a  wee  cabin, 
and  a  deck  above  that,  with  seats  look- 
ing out  each  side,  like  old  omnibuses, 
and  in  the  stern  (if  that  means  the  back 
part)  are  the  sailors  and  the  engines,  and 
the  oddest  arrangement  of  cooking  appa- 
74 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

ratus.  You  should  just  taste  the  exquisite  The  In- 
breakfasts  that  Hippolyte  (the  Baronne  de  ^''''^^/'^ 
Larnac's  maitre  d'hotel)  cooked  for  us  this 
morning  after  we  started.  He  is  the 
queerest  creature,  with  a  face  like  a 
baboon,  and  side  whiskers,  and  the  rest 
a  deep  blue  from  shaving.  The  Baronne 
says  she  could  not  live  without  him  ;  he 
is  a  splendid  cook,  and  a  perfect  femme 
de  chambre^  and  ready  for  anything.  He 
is  much  more  familiar  than  we  should  ever 
let  a  servant  be  in  England.  It  was  rough 
all  the  morning,  quite  waves.  The  Seine  is 
only  half  a  mile  from  the  Chateau  de 
Croixmare,  and  runs  past  the  Tournelles* 
garden,  so  they  have  a  private  landing 
stage,  and  we  all  embarked  from  there. 
Jean  and  the  Comte  are  dressed  in  beauti- 
ful English  blue  serges,  and  look  neat 
enough  to  be  under  a  glass  case.  The 
old  Baron  does  not  care  what  he  wears, 
and  this  morning  while  he  was  working 
with  the  sailors  had  on  a  black  Sunday 
coat ! 

The  Baronne  kept   screaming  when    the 
boat  rocked  a  little.      "  Nous    ferons    nau- 
75 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  In-  frage  !  Mon  Dieu  !  Mon  Dieu  !  "  and  the 
valuable  yicomte  tried  to  comfort  her,  but  she  did 
not  stop  till  Hippolyte  popped  his  head 
out  of  the  cabin  and  said,  "  Pas  de  danger  ! 
et  il  ne  faut  pas  que  Mme.  la  Baronne  fasse 
la  Bebete !  " 

At  dejeuner  we  had  only  one  plate  each, 
and  one  knife  and  fork.  It  was  so  windy 
we  could  not  have  it  under  the  awning  in 
the  bows,  and  the  cabin  is  so  narrow  that 
the  seats  are  against  the  wall,  and  the  table 
in  the  middle.  No  one  can  pass  to  wait,  so 
between  the  courses  we  washed  our  plates 
in  the  Seine,  out  of  the  window.  It  was 
gay  !  They  are  all  so  witty,  but  it  is  not 
considered  correct  to  talk  just  to  one's 
neighbour,  a  conversation  a  deux.  Every- 
thing must  be  general,  so  it  is  a  continual 
sharpening  of  wits,  and  one  has  to  shout 
a  good  deal,  as  otherwise,  with  every  one 
talking  at  once,  one  would  not  be  heard. 
I  know  French  pretty  well  as  you  know, 
but  they  say  a  lot  of  strange  things  I  can't 
understand,  and  whenever  I  answer  or  ask 
why,  they  go  into  fits  of  laughter  and  say, 
"  Est  elle  gentille  Tenfant !  hein  !  " 
76 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

We  are  going  to  stop  at  the  next  small  The  In- 

village  to  post  the  letters,  so  good-bye,  dear  ^^f"^^*^ 
A^r  XT  n-      '  1        1  Hippolyte 

Mamma. —  Your  aitectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

P.S, — I  hope  you  won't  get  muddled, 
Mamma,  with  all  their  names,  it  takes  so 
long  writing  the  whole  thing,  so  please  re- 
member Mme.  de  Larnac  is  the  "  Baronne," 
Monsieur  de  Fremond  is  the  "  Baron,"  Mon- 
sieur de  Tournelle  is  the  "  Comte,"  Mme. 
de  Tournelle  is  the  "  Comtesse,"  Mme.  de 
Vermondoise  is  the  "  Marquise,"  Monsieur 
de  la  Tremors  is  the  "  Vicomte,"  and  "  hn- 
toine  ''  is  the  other  officer.  So  if  I  have  n't 
always  time  to  put  their  names  you  will 
know  now  which  they  are. 


11 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Vernon,  Yacht  Sauterelle^ 
Thursday  morning, 

Vernon  Dearest  M  amm  a, — The  scenery  we  came 

through  yesterday  is  quite  beautiful,  but  I 
did  not  pay  so  much  attention  to  it  as  I 
might  have  done,  because  Jean  and  the 
Comte  would  talk  to  me.  You  would  be 
amused  at  Vernon,  where  we  stayed  the 
night  in  such  an  inn !  I  believe  it  is 
the  only  one  in  the  place,  and  as  old  as 
the  hills.  You  get  at  the  bedrooms  from 
an  open  gallery  that  runs  round  the  court- 
yard, and  that  smells  of  garlic  and  stables. 
We  got  here  about  six,  and  started  en  masse 
to  inspect  the  rooms.  Hippolyte  had  en- 
gaged them  beforehand,  and  seemed  rather 
apologetic  about  them,  and  finally,  when 
there  did  not  appear  half  enough  to  go 
round,  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  almost 
up  to  his  ears  and  said,  "  Que  voulez  vous !  " 
and  that  "  Ces  Messieurs  '*  would  have  to 
be  "  tres  bourgeois  en  voyage,"  and  that 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  that  Mme. 
la  Comtesse  de  Tournelle  should  "  partager 
Tappartement  de  Monsieur  le  Comte  de 
78 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

Tournelle,"  and  that  Monsieur  le  Comte  A  Neces- 
de  Croixmare  would  have  to  extend  like  ^^^ .' 
hospitality  to  Mme.  la  Comtesse  de  Croix- 
mare. This  caused  shrieks  of  derision. 
Heloise  said  she  would  prefer  to  sleep  on 
the  dining-room  table,  and  "  Antoine  "  said 
he  thought  people  ought  to  be  a  little  more 
careful  of  their  reputations  even  en  voyage. 
Finally  they  unearthed  a  baby's  cot  in  the 
room  that  Hippolyte  had  designed  for  the 
Croixmare  menage,  and  de  Tournelle  said 
it  was  the  very  thing  for  me,  but  Jean 
replied,  "  Mon  cher  ami  c'est  une  Bebe 
beaucoup  trop  emoustillante,"  which  I 
thought  very  rude,  just  as  if  I  snored,  or 
something  dreadful  like  that.  Then,  after 
a  further  prowl,  a  fearful  little  hole  was 
discovered  beyond,  with  no  curtains  to  the 
windows,  or  blinds,  or  shutters,  just  a 
scrap  of  net.  The  face  of  Agnes  when 
she  saw  it ! 

Dinner  was  not  until  seven,  so  Jean  and 
I  went  out  for  a  walk  ;  as  Hippolyte  advised 
us  to  try  and  find  a  chemist  and  buy  some 
flea  powder.  "Je  trouverai  9a  plus  pru- 
dent," he  said.  Jean  is  getting  quite  natural 
79 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Neces-  with   me  now,  and  is  n*t  so   awfully  polite. 

sary  Fre-  ^pj^^  chemist  took  us  for  a  honeymoon 
couple  (as,  of  course,  if  I  had  been  French 
I  could  not  have  gone  for  a  walk  with 
Jean  alone).  He  —  the  chemist  —  was  so 
sympathetic,  he  had  only  one  packet  of 
powder  left,  he  said,  as  so  much  was  re- 
quired by  the  voyageurs  and  inhabitants 
that  he  was  out  of  it  (that  did  not 
sound  a  pleasant  prospect  for  our  night) 
—  "  Mais,  madame  "  (that  *s  me),  "  n'est 
pas  assez  grasse  pour  les  attirer,"  he  added 
by  way  of  consolation. 

It  was  spitting  with  rain  when  we  got 
back,  and  they  all  made  such  a  fuss  for 
fear  I  had  got  wet,  and  they  would  not 
for  worlds  stir  out  of  doors  to  see  the 
church  or  anything,  which  I  heard  is  very 
picturesque.  We  had  such  an  amusing 
dinner,  the  food  was  wonderful,  consider- 
ing the  place,  but  a  horrible  cloth  and  pewter 
forks  and  spoons.  There  were  two  officiers 
at  another  table  (only  infantry),  and  they 
were  so  interested  in  our  party. 

"  Antoine  "  sat  next  to  me,  and  in  a  pause 
in  the  general  conversation    he  said  to  me 
80 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

(it  is  the  first  time  he  has  addressed  me  Close 
directly),  "  11  fait  mauvais  temps,  made-  <f^^^^''^ 
moiselle.'*  I  have  heard  him  saying  all 
kinds  of  drole  things  to  the  others,  so  it 
shows  he  can  be  quite  intelligent.  It  is 
just  because  I  am  not  married  I  sup- 
pose, so  I  said  that  is  what  English  people 
always  spoke  about  —  the  weather  —  and  I 
wanted  to  hear  something  different  in 
France.  He  seemed  perfectly  shocked,  and 
hardly  spoke  to  me  after  that,  but  the 
Vicomte,  who  was  listening,  began  at  once  to 
say  flattering  things  across  the  table.  They 
all  make  compliments  upon  my  French, 
and  are  very  gay  and  kind,  but  I  wish  they 
did  not  eat  so  badly.  The  Comte  and  the 
Marquise,  who  are  cousins,  and  of  the  very 
oldest  noblesse,  are  the  worst  —  one  dare  n't 
look  sometimes.  The  Comtesse  is  a  little 
better,  but  then  her  family  is  only  Empire, 
and  Jean  and  Heloise  are  fairly  decent. 

I  could  bear  most  of  it,  if  it  was  n*t  for 
the  peppermint  glasses  at  the  end,  which 
the  men  have.  The  whole  party  are  very 
French,  not  a  bit  like  the  people  we  see 
at  Cannes,  who  have  been  much  with  the 
6  8i 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Close         English.      It  is  a  different  thing  altogether. 

garters  ^hg^  dinner  was  over  the  rain  stopped, 
and  after  a  lot  of  talk  —  as  to  whether  the 
ground  would  be  too  damp  or  not  —  we  at 
last  ventured  for  a  walk  down  to  the  bridge 
and  back.  Then  we  returned  and  com- 
menced a  general  powdering  of  the  beds, 
beginning  with  the  de  Tournelles'  apart- 
ment ;  next  we  went  to  the  Marquise's  — she 
had  such  an  exquisite  nightgown  laid  out, 
it  was  made  of  pink  chiffon.  When  we  got 
to  my  room  they  made  all  kinds  of  sym- 
pathies for  me  having  such  a  small  and 
stuffy  place.  The  powder  was  all  gone 
before  we  could  sprinkle  the  Baronne*s 
bed.  Agnes  was  not  quite  so  uppish  un- 
dressing me  as  usual.  Perhaps  she  realised 
this  part  of  her  France  was  not  so  good  as 
England. 

Next  morning  when  I  got  down  —  we  had 
arranged  to  have  our  premier  dejeuner  all 
together,  not  in  our  rooms,  as  we  were 
to  make  such  an  early  start  — "  Antoine  '* 
and  Heloise  were  already  there.  The 
Vicomte  and  the  Baronne  came  in  soon 
after ;  he  at  once  began  :  "  Comme  Mile. 
82 


CHATEAU      DE       CROIXMARE 

est  ravissante  le  soir !  un  petit  ange  a  son  A  Con- 

deshabille !       Une     si    eblouissante     cheve--^^'^      . 

Expert- 

l^^e  ^  ment 

The  wretch  had  been  watching  me  from 

the  opposite  gallery,  was  n't  it  odious  of 
him,  Mamma  ?  No  Englishman  would  have 
done  such  a  thing.  I  was  angry,  but  He- 
loise  said  it  was  no  use,  that  I  must  get 
accustomed  to  "  les  habitudes  de  voyage," 
and  that  she  did  not  suppose  he  had  really 
looked,  it  was  only  to  tease  me.  But  I 
believe  he  had —  anyway  from  that  moment 
de  la  Tremors  has  been  always  talking  to 
me.  Presently  while  we  were  eating  our 
rolls,  the  gar9on,  a  Parisian  (who  was  also 
the  ostler),  came  in  and  said :  Would 
Madame  —  indicating  the  Baronne  —  come 
up  to  "  Mademoiselle,*'  who  wished  to 
speak  to  her?  We  could  not  think  who 
he  could  mean,  as  I  was  the  only  "  Made- 
moiselle "  of  the  party.  The  Baronne  told 
him  so.  "  Mais  non ! "  he  said,  jerking 
his  thumb  in  the  direction  of  upstairs, 
"  La  demoiselle  dans  la  chambre  de  Mon- 
sieur.'* 

"  Mais  que  dites  vous  mon  brave  homme !" 
83 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Con-     screamed  the  Baronne  and  Heloise  together. 
jugal         -pj^g  j^^j^  ^^g  quite  annoyed. 

ment  "  J^  ^^^  ^^  4^^  j^  ^^^  ^^  j^   ^'^^   ^^^^  P^S 

mal  !  la  petite    demoiselle    blonde,  dans   la 

chambre  de  Monsieur  le  Comte  de  Tour- 

nelle.'' 

At  that  moment  the  Comtesse  came  in, 
so  with  another  jerk  of  his  thumb  at  her, 
"  Comment !  vous  ne  me  croyez  pas  ?  "  he 
said,  "  tiens  —  la  voila  !  "  and  he  bounced 
out  of  the  room. 

"  Antoine "  said  it  served  them  perfectly 
right,  that  he  had  warned  them  their  repu- 
tations would  suffer  if  husbands  and  wives 
camped  together.  Even  a  place  like  Ver- 
non, he  said,  was  sufficiently  enlightened  to 
find  the  situation  impossible. 

I  don't  know  what  it  all  meant,  but  the 
Comtesse  de  Tournelle  is  now  called  "  la 
demoiselle !  " 

The  two  young  men  leave  us  for  the 
day,  to  do  their  duty  at  Versailles,  but 
are  to  meet  us  again  at  Rouen  in  the  even- 
ing, with  leave  for  a  few  days.  We  are 
just  going  on  board,  so  I  will  finish  this 
presently. 

84 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

5  p.m,  — The  scenery  is  too  beautiful  after  ^  Con- 
you  pass    Vernon,  and  it  was  so  interesting -^"-^     . 
getting  in  and  out  of  the  locks.     The   Ba-  ^^„^ 
ronne  and  I    and    Jean  talked  together  on 
the  raised  deck,  while  de  Tournelle  read  to 
the  Marquise  in  the  bows.     The  old  Baron 
is    mostly    with     the    sailors,    and    Heloise 
slept   a  good   deal.     Every   now    and  then 
Hippolyte  came  out  from  his  cooking  place, 
and  one  saw  his  baboon  face  appearing  on 
a  level  with  the  deck   floor,  and   he  would 
explain  all  the  places  we  passed,  and  it  al- 
ways  ended  with  :    "  II    ne    faut    pas    que 
Mme.   La    Baronne   pionce    c'est   tres    tres 
interessant." 

I  can't  tell  you  what  a  drole  creature  he 
is.  Heloise  woke  up  presently  and  talked 
to  me  ;  she  said  if  it  was  not  for  the  Tour- 
nelles  she  could  not  stand  the  Chateau  de 
Croixmare  and  Victorine.  It  appears  too, 
that  when  in  Paris,  Godmamma  always  drives 
in  the  Bois  at  the  wrong  times,  and  will 
have  her  opera  box  on  the  nights  no  one 
is  there,  and  that  irritates  Heloise. 

I   can't   think  why  papa    and    she    were 
such  friends.      I   don't    believe   if   he   had 
85 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Con-      been  alive   now,  and   accustomed  to  really 
•^^'^^    .       nice  people  like  you  and  me,  he  would  have 
been  able  to  put  up  with  her. 

I  shall  post  this  directly  we  land,  I  am 
writing  on  the  cabin  table,  and  now  good- 
bye. —  Your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


Expert 
ment 


86 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


Caudebec, 
Saturday^  20th  August. 

Dearest  Mamma, — To-day  has  h^^w  A  Visit 
the  loveliest  I  ever  remember,  not  a  cloud  ^^  -^^"^" 
in  the  sky.  We  landed  at  Rouen  the  day 
before  yesterday  about  six,  and  the  hotel  we 
stopped  at  was  quite  decent,  and  although 
the  windows  of  my  room  looked  upon  the 
inner  courtyard  they  at  least  had  shutters. 
I  wanted  to  go  and  see  the  marks  the 
flames  of  Joan  of  Arc's  burning  had  made 
on  the  wall,  but  every  one  was  so  hungry, 
we  had  to  have  dinner  so  early,  there  was  n't 
time.  Canard  a  la  Rouennaise  is  good,  it 
is  done  here  with  a  wine  called  Grenache. 
I  had  two  helpings,  and  just  as  we  were 
finishing,  the  Vicomte  and  "  Antoine  "  came 
in  from  the  station.  They  are  n't  in  uniform 
now,  but  their  hair  does  stick  up  so,  and 
somehow  their  clothes  don't  look  com- 
fortable. I  liked  them  in  uniform  best. 
Madame  de  Vermandoise  talked  to  "An- 
toine "  across  the  table  quite  a  lot.  That  is 
the  only  way  one  may  speak  directly  to  a 
person,  it  seems.  After  dinner  we  went  in 
87 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Visit  search  of  some  place  of  amusement,  but 
to  Rouen  ^^^^^  ^^g  no  theatre  open,  so  we  had  to 
content  ourselves  with  a  walk  along  the 
quay,  and  then  we  came  back  and  drank 
sir  op.  It  is  sweet  and  nice,  and  you  can 
have  it  raspberry,  or  gooseberry,  or  what 
you  like,  and  I  am  sure  if  the  people  in 
England  who  drink  nasty  old  ports  and 
things  could  have  it  they  would  like  it 
much  better.  The  Baronne  calls  all  the 
men  by  their  end  names  like  "  Tournelle," 
"  Croixmare,"  "  Tremors,"  &c.,  and  every 
one  is  very  devoted  to  her,  and  I  daresay  she 
is  even  older  than  you,  mamma ;  is  n*t  it 
wonderful  ?  Jean  now  always  sits  beside 
me,  I  suppose  he  thinks  he  is  my  host,  but 
I  would  rather  have  the  Vicomte  de  la 
Tremors,  who  is  very  amusing.  But  to 
go  back  to  Rouen.  It  was  a  treat  to  sleep 
fearlessly  in  a  clean  bed  after  Vernon,  and 
I  actually  had  a  bath  in  the  morning.  I 
don't  know  where  Agnes  retrieved  it  from. 
You  can  see  Joan  of  Arc's  flames  quite 
plain,  we  went  there  as  soon  as  we  were 
dressed.  "Antoine"  would  insist  it  was 
only  the  black  from  a  smoky  chimney,  but 
88 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

I  paid  no  attention  to  him.  The  Horloge  "  Coiffer 
is  nice,  and  we  did  a  lot  of  churches,  ^' 
but  they  always  look  to  me  just  the  same,  ^/^^^ 
and  any  way  they  all  smell  alike,  and  I  don't 
think  I  shall  bother  with  any  more.  We 
had  breakfast  on  the  Sauterelle,  but  it  was 
so  fine  after  we  left  Vernon,  and  yesterday, 
that  we  could  have  it  each  day  in  the 
bows  under  the  awning,  and  so  had  not 
to  wash  our  forks  and  plates.  The  Cha- 
teaux are  so  picturesque,  and  such  woods! 
after  you  leave  Rouen.  Heloise  did  not 
sleep  yesterday.  "  Antoine  "  talked  so  much, 
no  one  could  really  have  had  a  comfortable 
nap.  In  the  afternoon  the  Marquise  told 
us  our  fortunes;  she  said  Heloise  would 
marry  twice,  which  made  her  look  as 
pleased  as  Punch,  but  Jean  did  not  think  it 
at  all  funny,  though  every  one  else  laughed. 
She  told  me  I  should  probably  be  an  old 
maid  (^^  Coiffer  St,  Catherine'')^  and  so  I 
said  in  that  case  I  should  run  pins  into  the 
horrid  old  saint's  head:  I  simply  wont  be 
an  old  maid.  Mamma,  so  they  need  not 
make  any  more  predictions.  However,  it 
would  be  worse  to  be  one  here  than  at 
89 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


St. 

Cathe- 
rine'' 


"  Coiffer  home,  because  even  up  to  forty,  if  you 
are  n't  married,  you  may  n't  go  to  the  nice 
theatres,  or  talk  to  people  alone,  or  even 
speak  much  more  than  "Yes"  and  "No," 
and  you  generally  get  a  nasty  moustache  or 
something.  We  saw  a  whole  family  of 
elderly  girls  at  our  hotel  at  Rouen,  and 
they  all  had  moustaches  or  moles  on  the 
cheek. 

We  got  here  (Caudebec)  yesterday  soon 
after  four.  Our  inn  looks  right  on  to  the 
Seine,  and  is  as  old  nearly  as  the  one  at 
Vernon,  but  fortunately  beautifully  clean. 
Only  you  have  to  get  at  your  room  through 
somebody  else's.  Mine  is  beyond  the  Ba- 
ronne's  and  Madame  de  Vermandoise  gets 
at  hers  through  the  Comtesse  de  Tournelle's. 
Hers  is  the  most  ridiculous  place,  with  a 
red  curtain  hanging  across  so  that  some- 
times it  can  be  turned  into  two ;  and  such 
a  thing  happened  last  night.  "Antoine" 
went  in  with  the  Comte  de  Tournelle  to 
help  him  to  shut  the  window,  as  Madame 
de  Tournelle  could  n't,  when  a  gust  of  wind 
blew  the  door  shut,  and  whether  there  was 
a  spring  lock  or  not  I  don't  know,  but 
90 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

any  way  nothing  would  induce  it  to   open  A  Misad- 
again.     So  there  they  were.     We  had  stayed  '"^^^^^^ 
up    rather   late;  the    landlord  and  the  ser- 
vants were  in  bed.     They  rattled  and  shook 
and  pushed,  but  to  no  purpose. 

There  was  only  a  board  partition  between 
my  room  and  Madame  de  Vermandoise*s,  so 
I  could  hear  everything,  and  Tournelle  said 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  that  "  Antoine  " 
would  have  to  sleep  in  the  other  bed  in  her 
room.  She  screamed  a  great  deal,  and  they 
all  laughed  very  much,  and  all  talked  at 
once,  so  I  suppose  that  was  why  I  could 
not  understand  quite  everything  they  were 
saying.  At  last  the  Baronne  rushed  into 
my  room  to  discover  what  the  noise  was. 
She  looks  perfectly  odd  when  going  to  bed  ; 
a  good  deal  seemed  to  have  come  off;  she 
is  as  thin  as  a  lath ;  and  on  the  dressing 
table  was  such  a  sweet  lace  nightcap,  with 
lovely  baby  curls  sewed  to  its  edge,  and 
when  she  put  that  on  she  did  look  sweet. 
It  is  n't  that  she  has  no  hair  herself,  it  *s 
thick  and  brown ;  but  she  explained  that 
having  to  wear  a  nightcap  because  of  ear- 
ache, she  found  it  more  becoming  with  the 
9' 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Misad-  curls.     I  suppose  it  is   on    account  of  the 
venture     ^^iters    coming  in   with  the   breakfast   that 
they  have  to  be  so  particular  in  France  how 
they  look  in  bed. 

But  to  go  on  about  the  door.  We 
sent  the  Baronne's  maid  and  Agnes  to 
try  and  find  the  landlord ;  but,  after 
exploring  untold  depths  below  and  above, 
they  only  succeeded  in  unearthing  Hip- 
polyte.  He  came  up  from  his  bed  looking 
just  like  that  very  clever  Missing  Link 
that  was  at  Barnum's,  do  you  remember  ? . — 
the  one  that  sometimes  was  an  Irishwoman, 
and  could  do  housework  in  a  cage  by  it- 
self. I  don't  know  exactly  what  Hip- 
polyte  had  on,  but  it  ended  up  with  a 
petticoat  of  red  and  black  plaid,  and  a  pair 
of  grey  linen  trousers  over  his  shoulders ; 
his  whiskers  and  hair  were  standing  straight 
on  end,  and  his  shaved  bits  were  bluer  than 
ever  at  night.  He  said  a  good  deal  of  the 
French  equivalent  of,  "  Here 's  a  pretty 
kettle  of  fish,"  and  shrugged  so  that  I 
was  afraid  the  petticoat  would  slip  off; 
and  finally,  when  all  the  pushing  and 
pulling  had  no  eflFect  on  the  door,  he  said 
92 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

people     must    resign     themselves     to     the  "  Not 
accidents  of  travel,  and  as  there  were  four  p^^ j*^ 
beds,  he  did  not  see  that  they  had  too  much  ^r^y 
to  complain  of. 

At  this  moment  Heloise  came  out  of 
her  room  to  see  what  the  commotion 
was.  She  understood  it  was  her  husband 
locked  in  the  room,  and  she  laughed 
too  very  much,  and  said  they  must 
just  stay  there ;  but  when  she  heard  the 
voice  of  "Antoine*'  she  seemed  to  think 
the  situation  grave  —  I  suppose  because  he 
is  not  married  —  and  she  also  did  every- 
thing she  could  to  open  the  door.  Of 
course  if  they  had  been  Englishmen  they 
would  have  simply  kicked  it  down,  and 
got  out  without  more  ado,  but  the  French 
are  n't  strong  enough  for  that. 

Heloise  became  quite  disagreeable  about 
it,  though  as  it  was  n*t  Jean  I  can't  think 
what  business  it  was  of  hers.  She  said  it 
was  because  "  Antoine  "  did  not  really  try, 
and  she  was  sure  he  had  done  it  on  pur- 
pose, upon  which  Madame  de  Vermandoise 
gurgled  with  mirth.  I  could  hear  both 
sides  you  see,  because  of  the  wooden  par- 
93 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

'■'-Not        tition.       "Antoine"    came    into    the    inner 

Much  to    Yoom.  and  said   he  was   "  Doux  comme  un 
LompLatn  .  i       tv  /r  •  •  i     i        i 

^^»  petit  agneau,    but  the  Marquise  said  that  he 

was  "  Un  loup  dans  une  peau  de  mouton/* 
and  must  go  away.  Finally  the  whole  of 
the  rest  of  the  party  in  different  stages  of 
deshabille  got  collected  outside  the  door. 
No  landlord  was  to  be  found  anywhere. 
Then  the  old  Baron  suggested  quite  a 
simple  plan,  which  was  for  Madame  de 
Tournelle  to  share  Madame  de  Verman- 
doise*s  room,  and  to  leave  the  Comte  and 
"  Antoine  "  in  her  room. 

No  one  seemed  to  have  thought  of  this 
before;  and  that  is  what  they  finally  did, 
and  at  last  we  got  to  sleep.  In  the  morn- 
ing no  landlord  could  still  be  found,  and 
we  had  no  coffee,  but  presently  he  arrived 
accompanied  by  two  gendarmes  and  good- 
ness knows  what  other  rabble  armed  with 
sticks,  and  they  wanted  to  proceed  up- 
stairs. We  heard  every  sort  of  ^^  S acres  T^ 
going  on  between  them  and  Hippolyte, 
and  eventually  the  landlord  almost  crawled 
up  apologising,  and  opened  the  door  with 
his  key. 

94 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

It  appears  that  hearing  the  noise  of  the  ^ 
door  being  tried  to  be  opened  and  Madame  ^/""^'T ^ 
de  Vermandoise's  screams,  he  had  thought 
it  wiser  to  decamp  for  the  night,  as  two 
years  ago  there  had  been  a  murder  there, 
and  he  had  had  "  beaucoup  d*embetement," 
he  said,  on  account  of  it,  and  was  deter- 
mined not  to  be  mixed  up  in  one  again, 
"  En  ces  affaires  la,  il  est  bien  assez  tot 
d*arriver  le  lendemain,"  he  said. 

Everybody  was  still  laughing  too  much 
over  the  situation  to  be  angry  with  him ; 
and  the  coffee,  which  we  got  at  last,  was 
so  good  it  made  up  for  it ;  but  you  should 
have  heard  the  plaisanteries  they  made  over 
the  night's  adventure ! 

Caudebec  is  an  odd  place;  it  used  to 
be  inhabited  by  hundreds  of  Protestant 
beaver  hat-makers,  who  fled  from  there 
after  the  Edict  of  Nantes'  affair,  and  so 
there  are  streets  of  deserted  houses 
still,  and  so  old,  one  has  a  stream  down 
the  middle.  I  would  not  go  into  the 
church  :  the  usual  smell  met  me  at  the 
door ;  so  the  Vicomte  and  Jean  and  I  went 
for  a  walk,  and  now  we  are  just  going  to 
95 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 


A  start  on  the  Sauterelle  again,  and  this  must 

Cautious 

Landlord 


autious    i^g  posted.     I  have  managed  to  write  it  on 


my  knee,  sitting  on  a  stone  bench  outside 
the  inn  door.  —  Good-bye,  dear  Mamma, 
with  love  from  your  aiFectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


96 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

Hotel  Frascati,  Havre, 

Sunday^  2ist  August, 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  am  sorry  our  nice  Havre  to 
voyage  is  nearly  finished,  for  we  go  over  to  ^^^^'^^^^^ 
Trouville  this  evening,  and  from  there  by 
train  back  to  Vinant.  The  river  is  not 
nearly  so  pretty  after  you  leave  Caudebec, 
but  Tancarville  is  fine,  and  looks  very  im- 
posing sitting  up  so  high.  The  Vicomte 
has  been  talking  to  me  all  the  time,  but 
Jean  stays  by.  We  were  dusty  and  sun- 
burnt by  the  time  we  got  to  Havre,  and 
Heloise  and  the  Marquise  and  I  started  at 
once  for  the  big  baths.  They  do  not  quite 
join  the  hotel,  so  we  covered  a  good  deal 
of  absence,  in  the  way  of  dress,  by  our 
faithful  mackintoshes  and  trotted  across. 
On  the  steps  we  met  de  Tournelle  just 
coming  out  from  the  baths ;  he  laughed 
when  he  saw  us,  and  said  he  had  never 
before  realised  that  garments  of  so  much 
respectability  could  have  such  possibilities ! 
Oh  !  how  nice  to  have  a  real  bath  again  ! 

Agnes  has  n*t  enjoyed  this  trip  much,  I 
can   see.       Heaven    knows   where   she    has 
7  97 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Gay      slept !       I    thought    it   wiser    not    to    ask. 

uinner  ^^  j^^^  ^\xz\\.  a  gay  dinner.  I  am  getting 
accustomed  to  shouting  across  the  table 
at  every  one  ;  it  will  feel  quite  queer  just 
talking  to  one's  neighbour  when  I  get 
back  to  England.  The  restaurant  at  Fras- 
cati  is  n't  at  all  bad,  and  it  was  agreeable 
to  have  proper  food  again. 

Hippolyte  thinks  we  are  awfully  greedy ; 
he  was  heard  yesterday  grumbling  to  the 
Baronne's  maid,  "  Mais  ou  diable  est-ce  que 
ces  dames  mettent  tout  ce  qu'elles  mangent  ? 
Elles  goblottent  toute  la  journee!  " 

After  dinner  we  drank  our  coffee  on 
the  terrace  and  listened  to  the  band. 
Heloise  would  hardly  speak  to  "  Antoine  " 
all  day,  and  he  looked  perfectly  miserable, 
and  Madame  de  Vermandoise  every  now 
and  then  laughed  to  herself —  I  don't  know 
what  at.  However  we  took  a  walk  on  the 
pier  presently,  and  as  there  was  such  a 
crowd  we  were  n't  able  to  walk  all  together 
as  usual,  but  had  to  go  two  and  two. 
"  Antoine "  walked  with  Heloise,  and  I 
suppose  they  made  it  up.  I  just  caught 
this :  "  N'oubliez  jamais  bien,  chere  Madame, 
98 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

qu'une  eglise  a  deux  portes."     Heloise  said  A  Gay 
she  would  not  forget,  and  he  thanked  her  ^^^^^^ 
rapturously ;    but   what   it   meant   I     don't 
know.     They  have  both  smiled  often  since, 
so    I    expect  it  is  some    French  idiom  for 
reconciliation. 

The  crowd  on  the  pier  was  common, 
and  we  returned  to  Frascati's  garden. 
It  was  so  fearfully  hot,  that  beyond 
wondering  if  the  dew  was  falling,  no 
one  suggested  we  should  get  cold,  as 
they  always  do.  It  really  has  been  a  de- 
lightful trip,  and  I  have  enjoyed  it  so. 
They  are  all  charming.  They  seem  to 
have  kinder  hearts  than  some  of  the 
people  at  Nazeby,  but  what  strikes  one 
as  quite  different  is  that  every  one  is  witty  ; 
they  are  making  epigrams  or  clever  tour- 
nures  de  phrases  all  the  time,  and  don't 
seem  to  talk  of  the  teeny  weeny  things 
we  do  in  England.  They  have  most  ex- 
quisite manners,  and  extraordinarily  un- 
pleasant personal  habits,  like  eating,  and 
coughing,  and  picking  their  teeth,  etc. ; 
but  they  do  have  nice  under-clothes,  and 
lovely  soaps  and  scents  and  things. 
99 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Views  for  The  Frascati  beds  were  comfortable,  and 
Victorine  j  ^ould  not  wake  in  the  morning,  in  spite 
of  Agnes  fussing  about.  The  Vicomte  has 
awakened  every  one  each  day  by  rapping  at 
their  doors,  but  this  morning  I  was  at  last 
aroused  by  Heloise,  who  had  the  next 
room,  and  we  had  our  coffee  together. 
She  says  she  does  hope  soon  to  get 
Victorine  married,  and  that  they  have  a 
nephew  of  the  Baronne*s  in  view,  but  he 
has  not  seen  her  yet.  It  appears  it  is  easier 
to  get  them  off  if  they  are  quiet  look- 
ing and  dowdy,  but  not  so  aggressive  as 
Victorine.  You  have  n't  much  chance  if 
you  are  very  pretty  and  lively ;  as  she  says, 
the  men  only  like  you  to  be  that  when  you 
are  married  to  some  one  else.  Heloise 
wishes  to  have  everything  smart  as  the 
Tournelles  have,  but  Godmamma  and  Vic- 
.  torine  are  always  against  her.  She  says 
life  there  is  for  ever  eating  galette  de  plomp^ 
which  I  suppose  means  a  suet  pudding 
feehng.  We  all  went  to  High  Mass  at 
eleven ;  it  was  very  pretty,  and  such  a 
good-looking  priest  handed  the  bag.  I 
should  hate  to  be  a  priest ;  should  n't  you, 

lOO 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

Mamma  ?     You  may  n*t  even   look  at  any  Views  for 

Victorine 
one  nice. 

We  breakfasted  at  Frascati,  but  we  were 

a  little  bit  gloomy  at  our  trip  being  over. 

This  afternoon    they   have   nearly   all  gone 

for    a    drive    in    hired    motor    cars,    but    I 

have  n't  a  hat  here  that  would  stay  on,  so 

I  am  writing  to  you  instead,  and  we  cross 

over   to    Trouville    at    five    o'clock   in   the 

ordinary   boat,  as    it   is  too   rough   for   the 

Sauterelle,  —  Good-bye,  dear  Mamma,  your 

affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

P,  S,  —  I  forgot  to  tell  you  the  story  of 
the  "  Cote  des  deux  Amantsy  You  know 
the  fearfully  straight,  steep  hill  we  have 
often  noticed  from  the  train  if  you  go  to 
Paris  from  Dieppe.  Well,  Hippolyte  told 
us  the  story  when  we  passed  it.  It  is  quite 
close  from  the  river,  and  looks  as  if  it  had 
been  cut  with  a  knife,  it  is  so  steep.  It 
appears  that  in  the  Middle  Ages  there  was 
a  castle  on  the  top,  and  there  lived  a  Comte 
who  had  a  tremendously  stout  daughter. 
He  said  no  one  should   have  her  and  her 

lOI 


THE     VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

A  Full-  fortune  unless  he  was  strong  enough  to 
^^^  carry  her  from  the  bottom  to  the  top  of 
the  hill.  Hundreds  tried  —  it  was  a  beauty- 
then  to  be  fat  —  but  every  one  dropped  her 
half-way,  and  the  poor  thing  got  "  tres 
fatiguee  d'etre  plantee  comme  9a/'  when  a 
handsome  cavalier  came  along,  and  he  suc- 
ceeded. His  snorts  of  out-of-breathness 
could  be  heard  for  miles,  but  he  got  her 
to  the  top  and  then  fell  dead  at  her  feet ; 
and  she  went  into  a  convent  and  died. 
Hippolyte  said  also  that  the  other  ending 
of  the  story  was,  that  she  got  so  thin  from 
pining  for  the  knight  that  the  next  one 
who  came  along  had  no  difficulty,  and  so 
they  married  and  lived  happy  ever  after. 
But  I  like  the  tragic  end  best.  And  he 
said  that  the  peasants  still  declare  they  can 
hear  the  knight  wheezing  on  moonlight 
nights,  but  "  Antoine  "  said  it  was  probably 
a  traction  engine.  And  I  don't  think  it 
nice  of  him ;  do  you.  Mamma  ? 


102 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


Chateau  de  Croixmare, 

24th  August. 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  am  quite  sure  I  Modest 
shall  never  be  able  to  stand  the  whole  fort-  ^^^^^^^ 
night  more  here.  We  got  back  on  Monday 
evening,  and  Godmamma  was  as  disagree- 
able as  could  be.  She  said  all  sorts  of 
spiteful  things  about  the  Tournelles,  and 
especially  the  Baronne ;  and  Jean  looked 
nervous  and  uncomfortable,  and  Heloise 
like  a  mule ;  and  Victorine  said  I  had  no 
doubt  enjoyed  myself,  but  for  her  part  she 
would  be  sorry  to  be  taken  for  a  "  young 
married  woman,"  which  was  what  Madame 
de  Visac  (a  woman  who  came  to  call  after 
we  left)  had  said  —  "  Qui  est  cette  jeune 
femme  avec  votre  belle  soeur  ?  " 

She  had  seen  us  embarking.  So  I  said 
I  was  flattered,  as  that  seemed  to  mean 
in  France  all  that  was  attractive  in  contrast 
to  the  girls.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  a 
cat^  Mamma?  and  considering  that  I  am 
only  seventeen,  and  she  is  an  old  maid  of 
twenty- two  ;  I  think  it  too  ridiculous.  She 
need  not  fear,  no  one  would  ever  think  she 
103 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Modest  was  married,  she  looks  like  a  lumping 
Maidens  Qej-man  governess.  Two  of  her  girl  friends 
came  to  breakfast  yesterday,  of  course  with 
their  mothers,  and  you  should  have  heard 
the  idiot  conversation  we  had !  All  plopped 
down  on  the  great  sofa  in  the  big  salon, 
like  a  row  of  dolls.  The  two  friends  were 
simply  gasping  with  excitement  at  the  idea 
of  my  having  gone  on  the  Sauterelle.  They 
asked  me  endless  questions,  and  giggled, 
and  I  did  tell  them  some  things ! 

They  asked  also  about  England,  and 
was  it  really  true  that  when  we  went 
to  a  ball  we  stayed  with  our  danseurs  till 
the  next  dance  ?  I  said  I  had  not  been 
to  a  ball  yet,  but  had  always  heard  that  is 
what  one  did.  One  of  the  friends  is  quite 
nice-looking,  but  with  such  dirty  nails. 
It  appears  you  don*t  wash  much  till  you  are 
married,  it  is  not  considered  bien  vu,  in  fact 
rather  land^  and  you  can*t  have  fine  under- 
clothes, it  has  all  got  to  be  as  unattractive 
as  possible,  and  that  shows  you  are  as 
good  as  gold  and  will  make  a  nice  wife. 
But  it  must  be  a  bother  picking  up  a 
taste  for  having  baths  and  things  afterwards, 
104 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


if  it  is  n*t   from  instinct,  don't    you    think  The 
so,     Mamma  ?      And    I     am    glad    I    am  Trouville 

^  ,  T      .  •       -r  Castno 

not    rrench.      it  is  even    eccentric    ir  you 

sleep  with  your  window  open ;  Heloise 
screamed  at  me  for  that.  They  all  assure 
me  it  gives  sore  eyes,  besides  encouraging 
an  early  grave.  I  said  at  last  that  in 
England  we  slept  the  whole  summer  in  the 
open  air.  I  was  so  exasperated,  and  they 
would  believe  anything. 

Oh,  I  wish  we  were  back  on  the  Saute- 
relle !  —  which  reminds  me  I  have  never 
told  you  anything  about  Trouville.  The 
whole  place  was  full  of  such  beautiful 
ladies,  and  such  nice  clothes.  They  must 
all  have  been  married,  their  things  were 
so  becoming.  The  Vicomte  seemed  to 
know  them  well,  and  they  all  spoke  of 
them  by  their  Christian  names,  such  as, 
Voila  Blanche  cTAntin  I  or  Emilie  something 
else,  as  we  passed  them,  but  none  of  our 
party  bowed  to  the  really  pretty  ones,  which 
I  thought  very  queer  if  they  knew  them 
well  enough  to  speak  of  them  by  their 
Christian  names.  I  remember  you  always 
told  me  never  to  do  that — -I  mean  to  use 
105 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  people's  first  names  in  speaking  of  them  if 

Irouvtlle  y^^  ^j.g    j^Q^    acquainted  with  them  —  but 

evidently  it  is  different  here.  The  Tour- 
nelles  and  all  the  others  did  stop  to  speak 
to  heaps  of  duller  looking  people,  and  every 
one  tried  to  persuade  us  to  stay  and  go  to 
the  races. 

We  went  to  the  Casino  in  the  evening 
and  saw  a  piece  ;  it  was  boring.  We  had 
two  boxes,  and  they  kept  talking  to  me  all 
the  time,  so  I  really  could  not  pay  much 
attention  to  the  acting. 

Down  below  us  was  the  Marquise  de 
Vermandoise's  brother-in-law,  with  a  rather 
dowdy  little  woman.  They  talked  a  great 
deal  about  him,  and  the  Marquise  said  it  was 
just  like  his  economy  to  go  to  Trouville 
with  such  "une  espece  de  petite  fagottee 
bon  marche."  So  I  suppose  it  was  some 
poor  relation  he  was  treating,  but  they 
seemed  very  good  friends,  as  he  held 
her  hand  all  the  time,  quite  forgetting 
the  people  up  above  could  see.  Then  we 
played  "  Petits  Chevaux,"  and  I  won  every 
time ;  I  do  like  it  very  much. 

We  came  back  to  Vinant  by  the  two 
.  1 06 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

o'clock  train,  but  first  we  went  to  bathe.  I  A 
was  really  annoyed  at  having  to  have  a  hired  ^^^^^S 
dress,  a  frightful  thing,  and  weighing  a  ton. 
The  Marquise  and  the  others  had  brought 
theirs  on  the  chance  of  our  having  time  for 
a  dip.  The  Baronne's  and  Heloise's  were 
too  sweet.  The  Baronne's  cap  had  the 
same  kind  of  lovely  little  curls  round  it 
that  she  wears  at  night ;  but  she  is  a 
great  coward,  and  hardly  went  in  deeper 
than  her  ankles,  in  spite  of  all  the  en- 
treaties of  "  Antoine "  and  the  Vicomte. 
The  Marquise  de  Vermandoise  looks  splen- 
did in  the  water,  just  like  a  goddess,  and 
her  bathing-dress  was  thin  enough  red  silk 
for  us  to  see  how  beautifully  she  is  made. 
The  splashing  about  seemed  to  make  her 
so  gay,  she  kept  putting  her  tongue  into 
the  gap  where  her  tooth  is  gone,  and 
looked  so  wicked  they  would  all  have 
swam  anywhere  after  her.  She  and  de 
Tournelle  went  out  a  long  way  to  a 
boat,  and  they  did  seem  to  be  having  a 
good  time.     I  wish  I  could  swim  like  that. 

Heloiseand  "Antoine"  made  la  planchs 
together ;    it   is    simply    floating,   only    you 
107 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

^  have  some  one  to  hold  you  up  in  case  you 

BMng    fl^^^   Q^^    ^QQ    f^j.^      Tl^g   Vicomte   wanted 

to  teach  me,  and  as  I  was  getting  rather 
tired  of  pretending  to  swim  with  one  leg 
down,  I  tried,  and  it  feels  lovely,  and  we 
did  laugh  so  over  it.  At  last  the  Baronne 
came  out  quite  up  to  her  knees  to  call 
to  us  "  Tremors,  c'est  defendu  de  faire  des 
betises."  I  suppose  she  thought  he  would 
let  me  drown. 

Jean  and  the  Comtesse  de  Tournelle 
watched  us  from  the  plage.  The  old 
Baron  swims  splendidly,  and  went  quite 
out  of  sight.  Hippolyte  was  waiting 
among  the  other  servants  with  our  pei- 
gnoirs,  and  presently  he  clapped  his  hands 
to  insure  attention,  and  shouted,  "  II  ne 
faut  pas  que  Madame  la  Baronne  reste  trop 
longtemps  se  mouillant  les  pieds,  elle  pren- 
drait  froid,  mieux  vaut  sortir  de  Feau  ! " 

I  am  glad  my  hair  curls  naturally,  because 
I  laughed  so  at  the  face  of  Hippolyte, 
gesticulating  at  the  Baronne,  that  I  did 
not  pay  attention  to  a  wave,  and  it  threw 
me  over,  and  I  went  right  under  water. 
The  Vicomte  pulled  me  up,  but  there  was 
io8 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

no  need  of  him  to  have  been  so  long  about  End  of 
it,  and  I  told  him  so.  He  apologised,  and  '^^  ^^'^ 
said  it  was  his  fear  that  I  should  drown, 
but  we  were  only  up  to  our  chests  in  water, 
so  I  don't  believe  it  a  bit.  After  that  we 
came  out,  and  it  is  just  as  well  one  has  a 
peignoir  to  put  on  immediately,  as  the  bath- 
ing gowns  are  so  tight  and  thin,  when  wet 
they  look  quite  odd.  There  were  hundreds 
of  other  people  bathing  too,  and  some  of 
the  dresses  were  so  pretty.  One  was  all 
black  and  very  tight,  with  red  dragons 
running  over  it,  and  she  had  a  gold  bangle 
on  her  ankle.  I  wish  we  could  have  stayed 
longer,  it  was  so  gay. 

In  the  train  coming  back  we  played  all 
sorts  of  games.  Jean  and  the  old  Baron 
went  "  smoking,"  and  we  eight  squashed 
into  the  same  carriage,  so  as  not  to  be 
separated.  We  had  to  go  right  up  to 
Paris  (us  the  express  does  not  stop  at 
Vinant),  and  then  back  again.  One  can 
just  see  the  high  roof  of  Croixmare  from 
the  train.  Yesterday  those  tiresome  girls 
came  to  dejeuner ^  and  to-day  we  go  to  pay 
another  visit  of  ceremony  at  the  Tournelles', 
109 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

End  of     to   thank  them  for  our  nice  trip.     I   shall 
the  irip    jLjg  gj^^^  ^Q  ggg  them  again  after  looking  at 
Godmamma  for  two  whole  days. 

The  evenings  are  awful.  Although  it  is 
so  warm  no  one  thinks  of  walking  in  the 
garden,  or  even  sitting  out  on  the  -perron. 
When  we  come  out  from  dinner,  though 
it  is  broad  daylight,  every  shutter  is  shut 
and  curtains  drawn,  and  there  we  sit  in  the 
salon,  all  arranged  round  in  a  semi-circle, 
and  make  conversation,  and  sirop  comes  at 
nine,  and,  thank  goodness,  we  get  off  to 
bed  at  ten  !  But  even  if  you  wanted  to 
talk  nicely  to  the  person  sitting  by  you 
you  couldn't,  because  every  one  would  at 
once  stop  what  they  were  saying  and  listen. 
There  is  going  to  be  an  entertainment  at 
the  Tournelles'  in  about  a  week,  a  kind  of 
fete  champetre.  We  are  to  dine  in  a  pavilion 
in  the  garden,  and  then  have  a  cotillon, — Good- 
bye, dear  Mamma,  with  love  from  your 
affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


no 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


Chateau  de  Croixmare, 
2^th  August, 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  The  longer  I  stay  Croixmare 
here  the  more  glad  I  am  that  I  am  not^<^^^'' 
French  !  Victorine  is  going  to  be  shown 
to  her  future  fiance  to-day,  but  I  must 
first  tell  you  how  it  came  about.  We  went 
to  Chateau  de  Tournelle  yesterday  to  pay 
our  visit,  Godmamma,  Victorine,  and  I  in 
the  victoria,  and  Jean  and  Heloise  in  the 
phaeton.  They  were  in  the  garden  play- 
ing tennis  with  a  party  of  friends  from 
Versailles,  and  among  them,  of  course, 
the  Vicomte  and  "Antoine."  They  were 
all  so  glad  to  see  me,  and  the  Baronne 
called  me  \itr  ^^  chere  petite^''  and  kissed  me 
on  both  cheeks,  as  if  we  had  been  parted  for 
months.  The  Vicomte — when  he  had  done 
putting  his  heels  together  and  bowing  to 
Victorine  and  me,  and  kissing  Heloise's 
and  Godmamma's  hands  —  managed  to  get 
in,  in  a  lower  voice,  that  his  ride  from 
Versailles  now  seemed  to  him  to  have 
been  very  short.  Upon  which  Victorine  at 
once  said,  "  Comment  ?  "  with  the  expression 
III 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

An  Un-  of  a  terrier  whose  ears  are  suddenly  cocked 
^^P^V'  up  on  the  alert.  He  bowed  more  deeply 
^^^  than  ever,  and  said  that  he  was  saying  it  was 

a  long  ride  from  Versailles!  So  you  see 
that  Frenchmen  are  not  truthful.  Mamma ! 
Well  —  then  we  were  sent  to  look  at  the 
gardens,  accompanied  by  Jean  and  the  Cure. 
The  Comtesse  "  adores "  le  tennis^  and 
plays  very  well,  it  quite  animates  her.  The 
Baronne  plays  too,  but  she  does  n't  hit  the 
ball  much,  and  screams  most  of  the  time  ; 
she  was  in  the  middle  of  a  game  when 
we  arrived,  and  only  stopped  to  pay  all 
kinds  of  civilities  to  our  party.  Her 
pretty  feet  show  when  she  runs  about,  but 
she  wears  a  large  black  tulle  hat  with 
fluffy  strings,  and  it  does  not  seem  very 
suitable  for  tennis.  I  had  to  walk  with 
the  old  Cure  when  the  path  was  not  wide 
enough  to  trot  all  together.  The  gardens 
really  are  lovely,  with  all  kinds  of  strange 
shrubs  and  trees,  and  fontaines  and  bosquets^ 
and  nooks,  but  I  don't  see  the  least  use 
in  them  if  one  has  always  to  walk  three  in 
a  row,  if  not  more,  do  you.  Mamma  ?  The 
Cure  was  a  charming  old  fellow,  and  ex- 

112 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

plained    all    the    plants    to    me.     We    had  ^^  ^"" 
no  sooner  got  back   to   the  tennis   ground  r,    -V 
than    one    felt    something    momentous    was  man 
taking  place   between   Godmamma  and  the 
Baronne.     She  had  finished  her  tennis,  and 
they    were    sitting    away    from    the    others, 
nodding    their    heads    together.     Victorine 
at  once  put  on  a  conscious  air,  and  minced 
more  than  usual.     "  Antoine  "  and  Heloise 
seemed    speaking    seriously,    while    she    ex- 
amined his  new  racket.     The  Vicomte  had 
begun    a  game,   so   could    not    talk    to  us, 
but  some  more  officers  were  introduced,  and, 
after  the  usual  bowing,  we  began  to  talk. 

"  Vous  aimez  le  tennis,  mademoiselle  }  " 

"  Oui,  monsieur,"  from  Victorine.    "  Moi, 
je  le  deteste,"  from  me. 

"  Pas  possible  !  "  from  every  one. 

"  Je  vous  assure  on  ne  joue  que  le  croquet 
chez  nous." 

"  Le  croquet,"  from  Victorine,  "un  jeu  de 
Couvent ! " 

"  Le  croquet !     Et  les  anglais  qui  n'aiment 
que  Texercice  ! "  from  the  officers,  &c.,  &c. 

Very  interesting,  you  see,  one's  conversa- 
tions here ! 

8  113 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Mar-  All  this  time  the  Baronne  and  God- 
riage  Ar-  ^lamma  were  nodding  their  heads,  and  when 
range  j^^n  and  Heloise  joined  them,  they  looked 
like  those  sets  of  mandarins  that  used  to  be 
on  Uncle  Charles's  mantelpiece,  and  as  we 
said  Good-bye,  the  Baronne  said  to  God- 
mamma,  "  Bien,  chere  madame,  c'est  entendu 
alors  c'est  pour  demain." 

All  the  way  home  in  the  carriage,  Victor- 
ine  simpered.  I  felt  I  could  have  slapped  her. 
In  the  evening  there  was  an  air  of  mystery 
about  them  all,  and,  quite  unlike  her  usual 
custom,  Heloise  came  into  my  room  to 
chat  when  I  was  going  to  bed.  Of  course 
Agnes  stayed  as  long  as  she  could,  but 
no  sooner  had  we  got  rid  of  her,  than 
Heloise  told  me  what  it  was  all  about.  It 
appears  the  Baronne  has  a  nephew,  who  has 
made  a  heap  of  debts  ;  he  is  a  Marquis,  and 
he  wants  to  "  redorer  le  blason."  It  is 
necessary  for  him  to  secure  a  large  dot,  but 
he  is  "  si  terriblement  volage,"  that  the  ex- 
treme plainness  of  Victorine  may  put  him 
off.  The  Baronne  has  been  arranging  it, 
and  he  is  to  be  brought  with  his  parent  to 
breakfast,  to  sample  her ! 
114 


C  HA  TEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

They  have  not  seen  one  another  yet,  and  A  Mar- 
it  has  been  difficult  to  get  him  to  face  ^^^^^  ^^' 
the  situation  seriously.  Victorine  has  been 
dragging  on  so,  that  the  family  will  be  de- 
lighted to  let  her  go,  even  to  a  less  fortune 
than  she  has.  "  lis  devraient  etre  joliment 
contents,  un  gros  paquet  comme  9a ! "  as 
Hippolyte,  who  knows  every  one*s  busi- 
ness, said  to  the  Baronne's  maid — Heloise 
told  me  —  and  that  explains  it ;  she  said  it 
would  be  such  a  mercy  if  he  will  settle  the 
affair  at  once.  She  had  come  to  ask  me  a 
favour.  I  did  wonder  what  it  was !  And 
you  will  laugh,  Mamma,  when  you  hear  ! 
Victorine  is  sure  to  be  nervous,  Heloise 
said,  and  in  that  case  her  face  gets  red, 
and  it  would  be  a  pity  to  distract  his 
attention  in  any  way,  and  in  short  would 
I  mind  putting  on  my  most  unbecoming 
dress,  and  not  speaking  while  the  Marquis 
is  here  ? 

So  here  I  am.  Mamma,  writing  to  you  up 
in  my  room,  dressed  in  that  horrid  beige 
linen  that  we  chose  at  night,  and  I  shan't  go 
down  till  dejeuner  is  ready,  pouf !  I  can  hear 
a  carriage  coming,  I  must  go  to  the  window. 
115 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 


Appears 


The  YeSj   it    is    the  fiance^  accompanied    by    his 

^IT™.  "mother  and  aunt.  He  is  nice-looking,  except 
that  he  has  got  a  silly  fair  beard.  I  can 
hear  them  arriving  in  the  hall ;  such  a  lot  of 
talking  ! 

Heloise  and  Victorine  have  just  been  here. 
Heloise  even  has  got  an  ugly  dress  on, 
and  Victorine  has  scrubbed  her  face  with 
soap  —  I  suppose  to  get  that  greasy  look  off 

—  until  it  shines  like  an  apple,  her  nose  is 
crimson,  and  her  eyes  look  like  two  beads. 
They  have  gone  downstairs.     More  talking 

—  I  am  sure  he  is  putting  his  heels  together. 
I  '11  finish  this  after  they  have  gone,  so  as  to 
tell  you  what  happens. 

Evening,  —  Such  a  day  !  After  I  had  heard 
mumbling  talking  for  quite  a  while  —  the 
windows  were  all  open,  and  the  salon  is 
under  me  —  suddenly  the  piano  began.  Vic- 
torine plays  really  well  generally  —  that  is, 
she  has  brilliant  execution  —  but  you  should 
have  heard  the  jumble!  hardly  a  note  right, 
and  in  the  middle  of  it  up  rushed  Heloise  to 
me  and  sank  into  a  chair.  It  was  going  as 
badly  as  it  possibly  could,  she  said.  Victorine 
was  so  nervous  that  her  voice  was  like  a  file, 
ii6 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

and  her  face  so  crimson  that  the   Marquis  The 

must  think  she  has  erysipelas  !     And  then,  ^J^'^^^ 

1  11-  111       Appears 

to  complete   matters,  when   she   is   told  by 

Godmamma  to  show  her  accomplishments, 

to    think    that   she    should    play  like  this  ! 

Especially  as  the  Marquis  is  very  musical ! 

Heloise    said    she    could    see   he  was   quite 

^^  degoiltey'   and   the  only  thing  for  it  now, 

was  for  me   to  change  my  frock   instantly, 

and  to  put  on  a  becoming  one,  and  to  go 

down  and  talk.     Then  he  would   go  away 

having  enjoyed  his  visit,    he   won't    reason 

why,  and  will  come  again ;  and  then  when 

I    am    gone,    he    can    be    pushed    into    the 

marriage  with  Victorine ! 

She  rang  for  Agnes  while  she  spoke,  and 
I  was  simply  pitched  into  the  blue  batiste^ 
and  hustled  downstairs. 

Such  a  scene  in  the  salon  !  The  Baronne 
seated  on  the  large  sofa  with  Jean ;  God- 
mamma  and  the  mother  of  the  young  man 
in  two  of  the  armchairs ;  while  Victorine 
fumbled  with  some  music  on  the  piano 
with  the  dame  de  compagnie,  whom  Heloise 
calls  "  le  Remorqueur^'  because  she  looks 
like  a  teeny  tug  pulling  along  a  coal  barge 
117 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


Wander-  (Victorine).     The  Marquis  was  standing  up 
/2f  ^y  himself — with  his  hat  and  gloves  in  his 

hand  —  first  on  one  foot,  then  on  the  other ; 
and  Marie  and  Yolande  were  making 
horrid,  shuffling,  squeaking  noises,  sliding 
on  the  parquet  by  the  window. 

When  I  was  introduced  and  had  made  a 
reverence  to  the  old  ladies,  the  Marquis  was 
presented,  and  when  we  had  done  bowing,  he 
said:  "  Vous  etes  anglaise,  mademoiselle?" 
and,  even  for  that,  Victorine's  eyes  shot  two 
yellow  flames  at  me!  Heloise  nipped  my 
arm  to  tell  me  to  talk,  so  of  course  every- 
thing went  out  of  my  head,  and  I  could 
only  think  of  "Oui,  monsieur."  Just  then 
breakfast  was  announced,  and  we  all  went 
in  arm-in-arm,  Godmamma  and  the  Marquis 
together.  It  is  a  huge  round  table,  and  I 
had  done  the  flowers,  because  they  wanted 
to  be  shown  how  we  have  tables  in  England. 
I  was  next  but  one  to  the  Marquis,  with 
Heloise  between.  We  had  scarcely  sat 
down,  when  he  began.  How  beautiful  the 
table  looked,  and  what  taste  in  the  flowers ! 
Upon  which  Heloise  said,  that  they  were 
lovely,  and  were  the  arrangement  of  her 
ii8 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

"  cKere  petite  belles ceur  I  "  and  she  smiled  gander- 
angelically  at  Victorine,  who  looked  down  ^^ 
with  conscious  pride.  Then  Heloise  said 
that  it  was  a  great  joy  in  life  to  have  the 
absorbing  love  of  flowers  as  Victorine  had  ! 
and  I  could  not  help  laughing,  because 
Victorine  does  n't  know  one  from  another, 
and  would  not  even  help  me  this  morning. 
The  Marquis  looked  and  looked  at  me 
when  I  laughed,  and  then  lifting  his  glass 
of  vin  ordinaire,  he  said :  "  Les  belles  dents 
rendent  gai.*'  Was  n't  it  nice  of  him  ?  I 
think  it  is  hard  he  should  be  tied  to 
Victorine.  He  talked  to  me  all  the  time 
after  that,  across  Heloise,  and  considering 
she  told  me  to  be  agreeable  to  him,  I  don't 
see  why  she  should  have  been  annoyed- 

After  breakfast — which  we  left  as  usual 
arm-in-arm  —  we  sat  in  the  salon,  while  the 
Marquis  and  Jean  went  back  to  smoke. 
It  was  appalling !  If  Victorine  had  been 
a  four-legged  cat,  she  would  have  spit  at 
me,  but  fortunately  the  two-legged  ones 
can't  spit  in  drawing-rooms,  so  I  escaped. 
The  Baronne,  after  a  good  deal  of  manoeu- 
vring, got  by  me  near  the  window,  and  then 
119 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Lecture  said  in  a  distinct  voice,  "  Ma  petite  cherie 

on  Duty    j»^-   ^^^^  chaud,  donnez-moi  votre   bras  un 

instant ; "  and   so    we   got   outside   on   the 

terrace,  where  the  huge  orange  trees  in  pots 

stand. 

As  soon  as  we  were  out  of  earshot, 
she  began  to  scold  me.  Why  had  I  at- 
tracted the  Marquis  ?  how  naughty  of  me, 
when  it  was  essential  his  debts  should  be 
paid,  etc.,  etc.  If  she  had  not  been  so 
nice,  I  should  have  been  furious,  and  you 
can  see.  Mamma,  how  impossible  to  under- 
stand them  it  is  ;  to  be  told  one  moment  to 
be  nice,  and  then,  when  one  is,  to  be  scolded ! 
I  just  said  as  respectfully  as  I  could,  that 
I  had  done  nothing,  and  that  Heloise  had 
told  me  to  do  it,  and  the  reason  why.  That 
made  the  Baronne  think  a  little.  I  am  sure 
she  wished  for  the  advice  of  Hippolyte ;  but 
the  end  of  it  was,  that  she  asked  me  how 
much  dot  you  were  going  to  allow  me  !  I 
said  I  did  not  know,  and  that  seemed  to 
stump  her.  At  last  she  said  she  supposed, 
as  we  were  people  of  consideration,  and  that 
I  was  the  only  child,  it  would  be  something 
considerable.  I  do  believe,  Mamma,  she  was 
1 20 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

thinking  that  I  might  do  for  the  Marquis  !  A  Lecture 
It  was  only  a  question  of  having  his  debts  °^  ^^^ 
paid  —  any  one  who  could  do  that  would 
answer.  It  did  make  me  cross,  just  as  if  I 
would  dream  of  marrying  into  a  nation  that 
eats  badly,  and  does  n*t  have  a  bath  except 
to  be  smart.  Think  of  always  having  to 
shout  across  the  table,  day  after  day,  and 
never  to  be  able  to  do  anything  except  by 
rules  and  regulations  ;  and  the  stuffy  rooms 
and  the  eight  armchairs  !  I  saw  myself! 
and  probably  ending  up  with  a  moustache, 
or  an  embonpoint,  or  something  like  that. 

The  Baronne  at  last  patted  my  hand,  and 
said  :  Well,  well,  she  supposed  I  had  not 
meant  anything,  but  that  I  must  leave  the 
Marquis  alone,  and  turn  my  attention  to 
"  Gaston "  (the  Vicomte),  who  was  really 
in  love  with  me.  Then  if  I  made  him 
sufficiently  miserable,  he  would  be  willing 
to  fall  in  with  another  plan  of  hers,  when 
I  was  gone,  through  sheer  desceuvrement.  So 
you  see,  Mamma,  they  look  upon  me  as  a 
regular  catspaw,  and  I  won't  put  up  with 
it.  I  shall  just  talk  to  the  Marquis  or 
"  Gaston "   whenever  I    like.     I   was  quite 

121 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

An  Alter-  polite  to  the  Baronne,  because  she  is  such 
native       ^    j^^j. .  |^^^    j    ^^    afraid,    if  Godmamma 

had  said  it  all,  I  should  have  been  im- 
pudent. 

By  this  time  the  others  had  joined  us  on 
the  terrace.  They  had  all  been  up  to  fix 
their  hats  on,  because  even  if  you  have  been 
out,  and  are  running  out  again  just  after, 
you  always  have  to  take  your  hat  off,  and 
make  a  toilette  for  dejeuner;  it  does  seem 
waste  of  time.  The  Baronne  is  considered 
quite  eccentric  because  she  keeps  hers  on 
sometimes.  I  had  not  even  a  parasol.  God- 
mamma  looked  as  if  she  thought  it  almost 
indecent.  Presently  Jean  and  the  Marquis 
came  out  of  the  smoking-room  and  joined 
us.  The  Marquis  at  once  began  to  pay 
compliments  about  the  sun  on  my  hair, 
and  was  really  so  clever  in  getting  in  little 
things,  while  he  was  talking  to  Godmamma, 
that  I  quite  took  to  him.  Victorine  had 
to  converse  with  her  future  belle-mere  all 
the  time,  and  finally  the  carriage  came 
round,  and  they  went. 

They  were  no  sooner  out  of  sight,  than 
Godmamma  said,  with  a  long  rigmarole,  that 

122 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

she  felt  it  her  duty  to  you  to  look  after  me,  An  Alter- 
and  she  must  tell  me  that  it  was  inconvenant  ^^^"^^ 
for  a  young  girl  to  smile  or  speak  to  a  man 
as  much  as  I  had  done  to  the  Marquis.  I  was 
so  furious  at  that,  that  I  said,  as  I  found 
it  impossible  to  understand  their  ways,  I 
would  ask  Agnes  to  pack  my  things  at 
once,  if  she  would  kindly  spare  a  servant 
to  go  with  a  telegram  to  you,  to  say  I  was 
coming  home  immediately.  She  was  petri- 
fied at  my  answering  her  !  It  appears  no 
one  else  ever  dares  to  ;  and  she  at  once 
tried  to  smooth  me  down,  especially  when 
I  said  I  should  just  like  time  to  write  and 
tell  the  Baronne  why  I  was  leaving,  as  she 
had  been  so  kind  to  me.  After  that  they 
all  tried  to  cajole  me,  except  Victorine,  who 
left  the  room  and  slammed  the  door.  And 
so  I  have  consented  to  stay,  and  here  I  am 
finishing  my  letter  to  you.  —  With  best  love, 
from  your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


123 


to  the 
Dentist 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 


Champs  Elysees, 

Friday^  26th  August. 

A  Visit  Dearest    Mamma,  —  You    will    be   sur- 

prised to  see  this  address,  but  Heloise  and 
I  are  only  staying  here  for  the  night,  and 
go  back  to  Croixmare  to-morrow.  Early 
this  morning  she  had  bad  toothache,  and 
said  she  must  go  to  Paris  to  see  her  dentist. 
Godmamma  and  Jean  made  as  much  fuss 
about  it  as  if  the  poor  thing  had  sug- 
gested something  quite  unheard  of;  and 
one  could  see  how  she  was  suffering,  by 
the  way  she  kept  her  handkerchief  up  to 
her  face.  Godmamma  said  she  could  not 
possibly  accompany  her,  as  she  had  to  pay 
some  important  calls ;  and  Jean  had  pro- 
mised to  be  at  St.  Germain  to  see  some 
horses  with  the  Vicomte,  so  Heloise  sug- 
gested I  should  go  with  her  ;  and  that  we 
should  stay  the  night  at  the  appartement  in 
the  Champs  Elysees,  so  that  she  could  have 
two  appointments  with  M.  Adam,  the  den- 
tist. She  has  such  beautiful  teeth,  it  seems 
hard  that  they  should  ache,  and  I  felt  very 
sorry  for  her.  After  a  lot  of  talking  it 
124 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

was  arranged  that  we  should  go  up  by  the  A  Visit 
II  o'clock  train,  and  accordingly  we  started  ^f^  . 
with  as  much  fuss  as  if  we  had  been  depart- 
ing for  a  month.  We  had  no  sooner  got 
to  Paris  than  Heloise  felt  better.  She  left 
me  to  go  on  with  the  maids  and  luggage 
to  the  Champs  Elysees,  while  she  went  to 
see  M.  Adam. 

Paris  looked  out-of-seasonish  and  full  of 
Americans  as  we  drove  through.  I  am 
sitting  in  the  little  salon  now,  waiting  for 
her  to  come  in,  and  I  have  got  awfully 
tired  just  looking  out  of  the  window. 
Everything  is  covered  up  with  brown  hol- 
land,  but  I  dare  say  it  is  nice  when  they 
are  here.  The  tapestries  are  beautiful,  so 
is  the  furniture,  judging  by  the  piece  I 
have  lifted  the  coverings  from.  If  she 
does  not  come  in  soon  I  shall  go  for  a 
walk  with  Agnes. 

^  p.  m.  —  Heloise  came  in  just  as  I  was 
writing  this  morning,  and  we  had  a  scrappy 
kind  of  dejeuner  on  the  corner  of  the 
dining-room  table.  Then  she  said  we  had 
better  go  to  her  couturier  in  the  Rue  de  la 
Paix.  She  seemed  all  right  now,  and  said 
125 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Paris  in     M.  Adam  had  not  hurt  her  much,  and  that 
August      gj^g   ^^g    ^Q    gQ    ^Q    j^jj^    again    to-morrow 

morning.  I  always  like  Paris  even  out  of 
the  season,  don't  you.  Mamma?  it  is  so 
gay.  We  had  a  little  victoria  and  rushed 
along,  not  minding  who  we  ran  into,  as  is 
always  the  way  with  French  cabs.  When 
we  got  to  Paquin*s  there  were  nobody  but 
Americans  there,  and  every  one  looked  tired. 
Heloise  tried  on  her  things,  and  we  went 
to  Caroline's  for  some  hats.  They  were 
too  lovely,  and  Heloise  gave  me  a  dream ; 
it's  an  owl  lighting  on  a  cornfield,  which 
perhaps  is  a  little  incongruous  as  they  only 
come  out  at  night,  but  the  effect  is  good. 

After  that  she  said  she  felt  she  should  like 
to  go  and  see  her  confesseur  at  the  Made- 
leine, and  we  started  there  on  the  chance 
of  finding  him.  She  kept  looking  at  her 
watch,  so  I  suppose  she  was  afraid  he  would 
be  gone.  We  stopped  at  the  bottom  of 
the  big  steps,  and  she  said  if  I  would  not 
mind  waiting  a  minute  she  would  go  in 
and  see.  I  always  thought  one  only  con- 
fessed in  the  morning,  but  she  seemed  so 
anxious  about  it  that  perhaps  if  you  have 
126 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

anything  particular  on  your  mind  you  can  Paris  in 
get  it  off  in  the  afternoon  ;  it  might  have  ^^S^^^ 
been  the  stories  she  told  about  Victorine's 
liking  flowers.  I  thought  she  would  never 
come  back,  she  was  such  a  time,  quite 
three-quarters  of  an  hour;  and  it  was  hor- 
rid sitting  there  alone,  with  every  creature 
staring  as  they  passed. 

Directly  after  she  went  in  I  caught  a  glimpse 
of  "  Antoine  "  in  a  coupe,  going  at  a  great 
pace,  but  I  could  not  make  him  see  me  before 
he  had  turned  down  the  street  that  goes  to 
the  back  of  the  Madeleine.  I  wish  he  had 
seen  me,  for,  although  I  never  like  him 
very  much,  he  would  have  been  better  than 
nobody  to  talk  to.  I  believe  I  should  have 
even  been  glad  to  see  Lord  Valmond.  At 
last  I  got  so  cross,  what  with  the  people 
staring,  and  the  heat  and  the  smells,  that 
I  jumped  out  and  went  to  look  for  Heloise 
in  the  church.  She  was  nowhere  to  be  seen, 
and  I  did  not  like  to  peer  into  every  box 
I  came  to,  so  at  last  I  was  going  back  to 
the  cab  again,  when  from  the  end  door 
that  leads  out  into  the  other  street  at  the 
back,  the  rue  Tronchet,  she  came  tearing 
127 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Church  along  completely  essouffl'ee.  So  I  suppose 
httquette  ^}^gj.g  must  be  some  confessing  place  beyond. 
She  seemed  quite  cross  with  me  for  having 
come  to  find  her,  and  said  it  was  not  at 
all  proper  to  walk  about  a  church  alone, 
which  does  seem  odd,  does  n't  it,  Mamma  ? 
As  one  would  have  thought  if  there  was 
any  place  really  respectable  to  stroll  in,  it 
would  have  been  a  church. 

I  told  her  how  bored  I  was,  and  about 
"  Antoine  "  passing,  and  how  I  had  tried  to 
make  him  see.  She  seemed  more  annoyed 
than  ever,  and  said  I  must  have  made  some 
mistake,  as  "Antoine**  was  not  in  Paris.  She 
was  awfully  shocked  at  the  idea  of  my  want- 
ing to  speak  to  him  in  the  street  anyway,  and 
said  I  surely  must  know  it  was  the  custom 
here  for  the  men  to  bow  first.  She  was 
altogether  so  cross  and  excited  and  different 
that  I  felt  sure  her  confesseur  must  have 
given  her  some  disagreeable  penance.  We 
went  for  a  drive  in  the  Bois  after  that, 
and  Heloise  recovered,  and  was  nice  to 
me.  We  met  the  Marquise  de  Vermandoise 
and  a  young  man  walking  in  one  of  the 
side  allees^  and  when  I  wanted  to  wave  to 
128 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

them  Heloise  pinched  me,  and  made  me  Church 
look  the  other  way ;  and  when  I  asked  ^^^^^'"^ 
why,  she  said  it  was  not  very  good  form 
to  "  see  "  people  in  Paris  out  of  the  Season 
—  that  one  never  was  sure  what  they  were 
there  for  —  and  that  I  was  certainly  not  to 
mention  it  either  at  Tournelle  or  Croix- 
mare  !  Is  n't  this  a  queer  country.  Mamma  ? 
We  drove  until  quite  late,  and  just  as  we 
were  arriving  at  the  door,  who  should  pass 
but  the  Marquis  ?  He  stopped  at  once 
and  helped  us  out.  Heloise  told  him 
directly  that  we  were  only  up  seeing  the 
dentist,  and  seemed  in  a  great  hurry  to 
get  into  the  porte  cocher ;  but  he  was  not 
to  be  shaken  off,  and  stopped  talking  to 
us  for  about  five  minutes.  He  is  quite 
amusing;  he  looked  at  me  all  the  time 
he  was  talking  to  Heloise.  I  am  sure. 
Mamma,  from  what  the  people  at  Nazeby 
talked  about,  he  would  have  asked  us  to 
dine  and  go  to  a  play  if  he  had  been  an 
Englishman,  and  I  told  Heloise  so.  She 
said  no  Frenchman  would  dream  of  such  a 
thing  —  us  two  alone  —  it  was  unheard  of! 
and  she  only  hoped  no  one  had  seen  us 
9  129 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Morals     talking  to  him  in  the  street  as  it  was !     I 

^"7  said  I  liked   the    English    way  best,  as    in 

Manners     ,  1       iJ    1  •  1 

that    case    we    should     be    going    out    and 

enjoying    ourselves,    instead    of     eating    a 
snatchy  meal  alone. 

It  is  now  nine  o'clock,  and  all  the  even- 
ing we  have  had  to  put  up  with  just 
sitting  on  the  balcony.  It  has  been  dull, 
and  I  am  off  to  bed,  so  good-night,  dear 
Mamma.  I  shan't  come  up  to  Paris  with 
French  people  again  in  a  hurry !  —  Your 
affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


130 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


Chateau  de  Croixmare, 

Monday^  2^th  August, 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  Oh,  we  had  such  fun  The 
yesterday  !  After  Mass  the  Baronne  sent  %^^^  f 
over  to  ask  if  Jean,  Heloise,  and  I  would 
go  with  them  to  the  Foire  at  Lavonniere^ 
a  village  about  ten  miles  off.  It  is  a  very 
celebrated  Foire,  and  in  the  last  century 
every  one  went  from  Versailles,  and  even 
now  lots  of  people  who  spend  the  summer 
there  attend.  You  go  in  the  evening  after 
dinner,  and  there  are  no  horrid  cows  and^ 
things  with  horns  rushing  about,  or  tipsy 
people.  Godmamma  looked  awfully  severe 
when  she  heard  of  the  invitation ;  but  since 
the  row,  when  they  had  to  cajole  me, 
she  has  been  more  civil,  so  she  said  I 
might  go  if  Heloise  would  really  look 
after  me,  although  if  I  was  Victorine  she 
would  not  have  permitted  it  for  a  moment. 

We  left  here  about  six,  and  then  picked 
up  the  party  at  Tournelle.  They  all  went 
—  the  old  Baron,  and  every  one,  except 
the  Marquis's  mother.  We  dropped  the 
brougham  there,  and  went  on  with  them 
131 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

On  a  in  a  huge  motor  car  (that  is  another  fad 
Motor  of  the  Baron's).  It  is  lovely  motor-earring; 
you  get  quite  used  to  the  noise  and  smell, 
and  you  fly  along  so,  it  takes  your  breath 
away ;  even  with  your  hat  tied  on  with 
a  big  veil,  you  have  rather  the  feeling  you 
have  got  to  screw  up  your  eyebrows  to 
keep  it  from  blowing  away.  We  seemed 
to  be  no  time  doing  the  ten  miles.  The 
Baronne  and  Heloise  hate  it,  and  never 
go  in  it  except  under  protest.  The  Foire 
is  just  one  very  long  street,  with  booths 
and  merry-go-rounds,  and  Montagues  Russes, 
and  all  sorts  of  amusing  things  down  each 
side.  There  are  rows  of  poplar  trees  be- 
hind them,  and  evidently  on  ordinary  occa- 
sions it  is  just  the  usual  French  road, 
but   with   all  the    lights  and  people  it  was 

gay. 

We  stopped  at  the  village  inn,  the 
"  T'oison  d'Ory'  which  is  famous  for  its 
restaurant  and  its  landlady.  In  the  season 
the  Due  de  Cressy's  coach  comes  here  from 
Paris  every  Thursday.  Hippolyte  was  there 
already ;  he  had  been  sent  on  to  secure  a 
table  for  us.  We  had  no  sooner  sat  down 
132 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

under  the  awning  than  the  Vicomte  and  On  a 
"  Antoine "  and  two  other  officers  turned  ^^^^^ 
up.  They  had  ridden  from  Versailles,  which 
is  near.  Such  extraordinary  people  sat  at 
some  of  the  tables !  Families  of  almost 
peasants  at  one,  and  then  at  the  next  per- 
haps two  or  three  lovely  ladies,  with  very 
smart  dresses  and  big  hats,  and  lots  of 
pearls,  and  some  young  men  in  evening 
dress.  And  then  some  respectable  bourgeois^ 
and  so  on.  I  could  hardly  pay  attention 
to  what  the  Marquis,  who  sat  next  me, 
was  saying,  the  sight  was  so  new  and  enter- 
taining. 

The  tables  had  cloths  without  any 
starch  in  them,  and  the  longest  bread  rolls 
1  have  ever  seen.  One  of  the  beautiful 
ladies  with  the  pearls  used  hers  to  beat  the 
man  next  to  her  before  they  had  finished 
dinner.  We  did  not  have  fresh  forks  and 
knives  for  everything,  but  the  famous  dish 
of  the  place  made  up  for  it.  It  is  composed 
oipoussins — that  is,  very  baby  chickens  — raw 
oysters,  and  cream  and  truffles.  You  get 
a  hot  bit  of  chicken  into  your  mouth  and 
think  it  is  all  right,  and  then  your  tongue 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Ghevaux  comes  against  an  iced  oyster,  and  the 
au  Galop  j^Jxture  is  so  exciting  you  are  stimulated 
all  the  time ;  and  you  drink  a  very  fine 
old  Burgundy  with  it,  which  is  also  a 
feature  of  the  place.  I  am  sure  it  ought 
to  poison  us,  as  oysters  are  n't  in  for 
another  month,  but  it  is  awfully  good. 

One  of  the  strange  officers  is  so  amusing  ; 
he  looks  exactly  like  the  young  man  the 
Marquise  de  Vermandoise  was  walking  in 
the  Bois  with,  but  it  could  not  be  he,  as 
she  seemed  so  surprised  to  see  him  at  the 
Foire,  and  said  they  had  not  met  for  ages. 
The  Comte  sat  on  my  other  side  ;  he  said 
I  would  be  greatly  amused  at  the  booths 
presently,  and  was  I  afraid  of  Montagues 
Russes?  That  is  only  an  ordinary  switch- 
back. Mamma,  so  of  course  I  am  not  afraid. 
There  were  Tziganes  playing  while  we  dined, 
and  it  was  all  more  amusing  than  anything 
I  have  done  here  yet.  When  we  had  drunk 
our  coffee  we  started  down  the  Foire,  There 
were  hundreds  of  people  of  every  class,  but 
not  one  drunk  or  rude  or  horrid. 

The  first  entertainment  was  the  Chevaux 
au     Galops     a     delightful     merry-go-round 
134 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

with  the  most  fiery  prancing  horses,  three  Chevaux 
abreast,  and  all  jumping  at  different  ^^  ^^^°P 
moments.  The  Marquis  helped  me  up, 
and  Jean  got  on  the  other  side ;  we  all 
rode  except  the  Comtesse  and  the  old 
Baron.  It  was  too  lovely  ;  you  are  bounced 
up  and  down,  and  you  have  to  hold  on 
so  tight,  and  every  one  screams,  and  the 
band  plays ;  and  I  wish  you  could  do 
it.  Mamma.  I  am  sure  the  thorough 
shaking  would  frighten  your  neuralgia 
away.  I  could  have  gone  on  for  an 
hour,  but  there  was  such  a  lot  to  see,  we 
could  not  spare  the  time  for  more  than  one 
turn.  The  Marquis  whispered  when  he 
helped  me  off  that  his  walk  down  the 
Champs  Elysees  had  indeed  been  fortunate, 
as  he  had  seen  me,  and  that  it  was  he  who 
had  suggested  to  the  Baronne  to  come  to 
the  Foire,  So  of  course  I  felt  grateful  to 
him.  We  walked  all  together  more  or  less, 
but  Jean  kept  glued  to  my  side,  which  was 
rather  a  bore,  only  the  Marquis  or  the 
Vicomte  were  always  at  the  other  side. 

The  next  place  we  came  to  was   a  huge 
menagerie    of    clever    animals,    with    their 
135 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

The  Dompteurs  —  cages  of  lions,  bears,  tigers,  &c. 

Ennut       There  were  sets  of  seats  before  the   cages 

ofthe  ,  I-         •  •  • 

Lions        where  anything  interesting    was    going    on, 

and  the   audience  moved  up    as  each  new 

Dompteur  came  in  to  the  animals.     We  sat 

down   at  first  in   front  of  the  tigers'   cage, 

the   Baronne    next  to  me   this    time.     The 

creatures    went  through    astonishing  tricks, 

and  looked   such  lazy  great  beautiful  cats. 

The  Dompteur  was  a  handsome  man,  just  the 

type  they  always  are,  with  a  wide  receding 

forehead  and  flashing  eyes.     They  positively 

blazed  at  the  brutes  if  they  did  not  obey 

him  instantly.     I  wonder  why  all  "  tamers  " 

have    this    shape    of   head?     I    asked    the 

Vicomte,  but  he  did  not  know.     The  bears 

came  next,  horrid  cunning  white  things,  and 

turning   in    their  toes    like    that   does    give 

them  such  a  frumpish  look. 

The  attraction  of  the  show  was  to  see  the 

great  Dompteur,  Pezon.     He  had  been  almost 

eaten  by   his  lions  a  few   months  ago,  and 

was  to  make  his  reappearance   accompanied 

by  a  beautiful  songstress  who  would  charm 

the  beasts  to  sleep.     Pezon  was  just  like  the 

other  Dompteurs^  only  older  and  fatter,  and 

136 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

the  beautiful  lady  was  such  a  pet !  Enor-  The 
mously  stout,  in  pink  satin,  with  quite  bare  ^^^^^ 
neck  and  arms ;  the  Vicomte  said  that  the  ^-^ J 
Hons  had  to  be  surfeited  with  food  before- 
hand, to  keep  them  from  taking  their  dessert 
off  this  tempting  morsel.  She  began  to  sing 
through  her  nose  about  "  r amour,''  &c.,  and 
those  lions  did  look  so  bored  ;  the  eldest 
one  simply  groaned  with  ennui.  His  face 
said  as  plainly  as  if  he  could  speak,  "  At  it 
again  to-night ! ''  and  "  Oh  !  que  cela  m*em- 
bete."  When  the  song  was  finished,  the 
Belle  Chanteuse  stretched  herself  on  two 
chairs,  making  herself  into  a  sort  of  bridge 
for  the  animals  to  jump  over.  From  our 
position  we  could  only  see  mountains  of 
pink  satin  embonpoint,  and  the  soles  of  her 
feet.  The  lions  had  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  jumping  not  to  kick  her.  What  a  life. 
Mamma !  Then  Pezon  put  his  head  right 
into  the  old  lion's  mouth,  and  so  ended  the 
performance. 

When  we  got  outside,  a  man  was  ring- 
ing a  bell  opposite,  to  invite  every  one  in 
to    see    a    woman    with   only    a    head ;    she 
could    speak,  he    said,    but    had    no    body. 
137 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Inspecting  The  Baronne  insisted  upon  going  in.  It 
the  Ma-  ^^g  ^  ^jj^y  ^q\\  Qf  a  place  and  crammed  full. 
c  inery  presently  a  head  appeared  on  a  pedestal  and 
spoke  in  a  subdued  voice.  All  the  others 
said  it  was  a  fraud,  but  I  thought  it  wonder- 
ful. "  Antoine  "  wanted  to  go  beyond  the 
barrier  and  touch  it,  which  was  mean  of  him, 
I  think.  Presently  a  villainous-looking  old 
hag,  who  was  exhibiting  the  creature,  came 
over,  and  whispered  in  "  Antoine's  *'  ear.  I 
only  caught  "  cinq  francs^^  but  his  face 
looked  interested  at  once,  and  he  and  Jean 
disappeared  behind  the  curtain  and  the  head 
disappeared  too,  so  we  went  outside,  and 
bought  "  farings  ''  at  the  next  booth.  There 
they  joined  us.  "  Alors,  mes  amis  ?  "  de- 
manded every  one.  "  Pas  la  peine,  tres  mal 
faite,"  said  "  Antoine ''  ;  so  I  suppose  it  was 
the  machinery  they  had  been  examining. 
The  next  thing  we  came  to  was  a  sort  of 
swing  with  flying  boats,  but  no  one  was  brave 
enough  to  try  it  except  the  Marquise  and 
me,  though  all  the  men  wanted  to  come  with 
us.  You  sit  opposite  one  another,  and  they 
are  much  higher  than  the  ones  in  England. 
Jean  would  come  with  me,  though  I  wanted 
138 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

the  Vicomte  —  so  I  was  glad  it  made  him  Inspecting 
look  quite  green.  '^^  ^^~ 

It  chanced  that  "  Antoine  "  was  beside  me 
as  we  walked  to  the  pistol  booth,  so  I  asked 
him  if  he  had  been  in  Paris  on  Friday,  and 
he  looked  so  hard  at  me,  you  would  have 
thought  I  was  asking  a  State  secret ;  but  he 
said  that  alas  !  no,  he  had  been  detained  at 
Versailles.  So  it  could  not  have  been  him 
after  all ;  there  must  be  a  lot  of  French 
people  exactly  alike,  I  never  keep  making 
these  mistakes  in   England. 

Have  you  ever  fired  off  a  pistol.  Mamma? 
it  is  simply  horrid.  The  pistol  booth  was 
next  after  the  "farings"  shop,  and  the  prizes 
were  china  monsters  and  lanterns,  &c.  The 
Comtesse  is  a  splendid  shot,  and  hit  the 
flying  ball  almost  each  time  ;  she  is  such  a 
quiet  little  thing,  one  would  not  expect  it  of 
her.  The  Baronne  made  a  lot  of  fuss,  and 
said  she  knew  it  would  kill  her,  until  Hip- 
polyte,  who  was  behind  the  party  with  her 
cloak,  said :  "  Madame  la  Baronne  doit  essay er 
c'est  necessaire  que  toutes  les  belles  jeunes 
dames  sachent  comment  se  defendre.'*  And 
she  fired  off  the  pistol  at  last  with  her  eyes 
139 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  shut,  and  it  was  a  mercy  it  did  not  kill  the 

^°^~        attendant,  the  ball  lodged  in  the  wall  just 
Russes      beside    him,  so  we  thought  we    had   better 
leave  after    that ! 

Next  came  the  Montagues  Russes,  How 
I  love  a  switchback,  Mamma !  If  I  were 
the  Queen  I  would  have  a  private  one  for 
myself,  and  my  particular  friends,  round 
Windsor  Castle ;  I  could  go  on  all  day. 
The  Marquis  and  the  Vicomte  kept  so 
close  to  me  that  Jean  could  not  take  the 
seat  beside  me,  as  I  saw  he  intended  to,  and 
then  the  other  two  made  quite  a  shuffle,  but 
the  Vicomte  won.  The  person  who  sits 
next  you  is  obliged  to  hold  your  arm  to 
prevent  your  tumbling  out.  I  looked  round 
to  see,  and  every  one  was  having  her  arm 
held,  but  I  don't  believe  the  Vicomte  need 
have  gripped  mine  quite  so  tight  as  he 
did.  We  had  three  turns ;  next  time  the 
Marquis  was  beside  me,  and  he  was  more 
violent  than  the  Vicomte.  So  when  it 
came  to  the  last,  and  Jean  scrambled  in, 
and  began  to  hold  tighter  than  either  of 
the  others,  I  just  said  my  arm  would  be 
black  and  blue,  and  I  would  rather  chance 
140 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

the   danger   of  falling    out,   in    a   seat   by  The 
myself,  than  put  up  with  it.      That  made  ^^"' 
him    sit   up    quite    straight.       I    can*t    see  jij^^ses 
why  people  want  to   pinch  one ;    can  you. 
Mamma?     I  call  it  vulgar,  and  I  am  sure 
no  Englishman  would  do  it.     It  seems  that 
Frenchmen  are  awfully  respectful,  and   full 
of  ceremony  and  politeness,  and  then  every 
now  and  then  —  directly  they  get  the  oppor- 
tunity —  they  do  these  horrid  little  tricks. 

The  next  entertainment  was  really  very 
curious.  It  was  a  marble  woman  down  to 
her  waist,  and  as  you  looked,  the  marble 
turned  into  flesh,  her  eyes  opened,  and  she 
spoke  ;  then  her  colour  faded,  and  she  turned 
into  marble  again,  and  was  handed  round 
the  audience ;  was  n*t  it  wonderful.  Mamma  ? 
I  can't  think  how  it  was  done,  and  as 
"  Antoine "  and  Jean  did  not  go  behind 
the  curtain  to  examine  the  machinery,  I 
suppose  we  shall  never  know. 

After  that  there  were  endless  shows  —  per- 
forming dogs,  fortune-telling,  circuses,  etc.  — 
but  the  nicest  of  all  was  another  merry-go- 
round,  with  seats  which  went  up  and  down 
like  a  boat  in  a  very  rough  sea.  Hardly  one 
141 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Fun  of  them  would  venture,  but  I  made  the  Vi- 
^  .  comte  come  with  me  for  two  turns  ;  he  looked 

so  pale  at  the  end  of  it,  and  when  I  wanted 
to  go  a  third  time,  he  said  we  must  be 
getting  on,  and  no  one  else  offered  to  come. 
Was  n't  it  stupid  of  them,  as  it  was  by  far 
the  most  exciting  part  of  the  Foire  ?  It  was 
half-past  twelve  before  we  got  back  to  the 
"  'Toison  d'Ovy'  and  there  had  supper,  with 
^"^  Punch  a  V Americainer  It  is  good,  and 
you  do  feel  so  gay  after  it.  One  of  the 
ladies  with  the  pearls,  who  was  also  supping, 
was  so  friendly  to  the  man  next  her ;  Pezon 
was  of  their  party,  and  he  did  look  common 
in  clothes,  while  he  was  quite  handsome  in 
spangled  tights. 

We  were  obliged  to  go  slowly  in  the 
motor  car  returning,  there  were  such  heaps 
of  people  and  carts  and  things  on  the  road, 
but  we  got  back  to  Croixmare  about  two  ; 
and  I  have  slept  so  late  this  morning,  so 
now,  good-bye,  dear  Mamma.  —  Your  affec- 
tionate daughter,  Elizabeth. 


142 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

Chateau  de  Croixmare, 

Wednesday^  August  jist. 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  To-day  is  the  dinner  Bac^  at 
and  cotillon  at  the  de  Tournelles'.  The  ^^^'^" 
Marquis  and  the  Vicomte  and  "  Antoine " 
and  every  one  will  be  there,  and  I  am  sure 
it  will  be  fun.  The  Vicomte  can't  get  leave 
for  the  night,  so  the  Baronne  —  who  was 
here  yesterday  on  her  bicycle  —  told  us.  He 
will  have  to  ride  back  to  Versailles,  as  there 
are  no  trains  at  that  time,  to  be  there  for 
some  duty  at  six  in  the  morning.  I  can't 
tell  you  how  many  miles  it  is ;  he  will  be 
tired,  poor  thing.  These  last  two  days 
have  been  just  alike,  that  is  why  I  have 
not  written  —  the  same  tiresome  ceremony 
about  everything,  and  the  same  ghastly 
evenings. 

We  went  for  a  drive  on  Monday,  and 
Godmamma  did  nothing  but  question  me 
as  to  what  we  had  done  every  minute  of 
the  time  while  we  were  in  Paris.  This  is 
the  first  chance  she  has  had  with  me  alone. 
So  I  would  not  tell  her  a  scrap,  even  a 
simple  thing  like  Heloise  going  to  the 
143 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 


Etiquette  Madeleine.       She     thinks     I     am    fearfully 

of  the 

Bathroom 


°f^"^        Stupid,  I   can  see.       I    forgot   to   tell    you 


about  the  morning  we  left  Paris  ;  Heloise 
went  to  see  Adam  again,  and  I  went  shop- 
ping with  Agnes,  but  I  would  not  even 
tell  Godmamma  that !  Victorine  says  spite- 
ful things  to  me  whenever  she  can,  but  Jean 
and  Heloise  are  so  charming  that  I  don't 
mind  the  rest.  We  are  to  wear  sort  of 
garden-party  dresses  and  hats  at  the  enter- 
tainment to-night.  Dinner  is  to  be  at 
eight,  in  a  large  pavilion,  where  they  have 
had  a  beautiful  parquet  floor  laid  down, 
and  then  when  the  tables  are  cleared  away, 
we  shall  begin  the  cotillon.  As  I  have  never 
danced  in  one  before,  I  hope  I  sha*n't  make 
an  idiot  of  myself. 

This  morning  I  very  nearly  had  another 
row  with  Godmamma  —  you  will  never 
guess  what  for.  Mamma !  She  knocked 
at  the  door  of  my  room  before  I  was 
quite  dressed,  and  then  came  in  with 
a  face  as  glum  as  a  church.  She  began  at 
once.  She  said  that  she  had  heard  some- 
thing about  me  that  she  hoped  was  a 
mistake,  so  she  thought  it  better  to  ask 
144 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

me   herself.     She   understood   that   I   went  Etiquette 

down  to    the  Salles   des    Bains   every   day,  ^    , 

,        ^     .  ,  .  .  J         J^  Bathroom 

instead    or    just     washing    in     my    room. 

(I  have  done  so  ever  since  Agnes  dis- 
covered there  really  was  water  enough  for 
a  decent  bath  there,  and  that  no  one  else 
seemed  to  use  it.)  I  began  to  wonder  if 
she  was  going  to  accuse  me  of  tampering 
with  the  taps  —  but  not  a  bit  of  it !  After 
a  rigmarole,  as  if  she  thought  it  almost  too  - 
shocking  to  mention,  she  said  she  under- 
stood from  her  maid,  who  had  heard  it  from 
the  valet  de  chdmhre  who  clears  out  the 
bath  after  I  leave,  that  there  never  were 
any  wet  chemises,  and  that  she  was  there- 
fore forced  to  conclude  that  I  got  into 
my   tub   "  toute  nue  I  '* 

I  had  been  so  worked  up  for  something 
dreadful,  that  I  am  sorry  to  say.  Mamma,  I 
went  into  a  shriek  of  laughter.  That  seemed 
to  annoy  Godmamma  very  much ;  she  got 
as  red  as  a  turkey-cock,  and  said  she  saw 
nothing  to  cause  mirth  —  in  fact,  she  had 
hoped  I  should  have  been  ashamed  at  such 
deplorable    immodesty,    if,    as    she    feared 

from     my     attitude,     her     accusation     was 
10  145 


Again 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  correct.     I  said,  when  I  could  stop  laugh- 

AnLT"   ^^§'  ^^  course  it  was   correct,   how  in   the 
world  else  should  one  get  into  a  bath  ? 

Her  eyes  almost  turned  up  into  her  head 
with  horror ;  she  could  only  gasp,  "  Mais  si 
quelqu*un  ouvrait  la  porte?  "  "  Mais  je  la 
ferme  toujours  a  clef,"  I  said,  and  then  I 
asked  her  if  in  France  they  also  dried 
themselves  in  their  wet  chemises  ?  But 
she  said  that  that  was  a  childish  question, 
as  I  must  know  it  would  be  an  impos- 
sibility ;  and  when  I  said  I  could  not  see 
any  difference  in  washing  or  drying,  she 
was  so  stumped  she  was  obliged  to  sit 
down  and  fan  herself  I  smoothed  her 
down  by  assuring  her  it  was  the  English 
custom,  and  that  I  was  sorry  I  shocked 
her  so.  At  last  I  got  rid  of  her,  evidently 
thinking  our  nation  ^^hrulee^^  as  well  as 
"  toqueey  Now  are  n't  they  too  odd.  Mam- 
ma? I  suppose  a  nice  big  bath  is  such 
a  rare  thing  for  them  that  they  are  obliged 
to  make  as  much  fuss  as  possible  over  it. 
One  would  think  they  received  company 
there,  dressing  up  like  that!  Heloise  and 
the  smart  people  wash  all  right ;  it  is  only 
146 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

the   girls   and    the   thoroughly  goody   ones  The 
like  Godmamma  who  are  afraid  of  water.    ^^^^^^" 

^,2^  p.m.  —  The  Marquis  came  over  from 
Tournelle  with  a  note  from  the  Baronne 
after  dejeuner  to-day.  I  happened  to  be 
getting  some  music  out  of  the  big  salon 
for  Heloise  when  he  arrived.  Louis,  the 
valet,  who  showed  him  in,  did  not  catch 
sight  of  me  as  I  was  behind  the  piano,  or 
he  would  certainly  have  taken  him  some- 
where else.  He  began  at  once  (after  put- 
ting his  heels  together)  to  say  a  lot  of 
compliments  and  things.  This  was  a  for- 
tunate chance  —  more  than  he  had  dared  to 
hope  —  would  1  promise  to  dance  the  cotillon 
with  him  to-night  ?  etc.,  etc.  You  would 
not  believe.  Mamma,  the  amount  he  got 
into  the  five  minutes  before  Heloise  came 
into  the  room.  She  knew  it  was  her  own 
fault  for  sending  for  the  music  that  I  was 
alone  with  him,  or  I  should  have  got  a 
scolding ;  as  it  was,  she  talked  without 
ceasing  until  at  last  he  got  up  to  go.  I 
had  not  answered  about  the  cotillon^  so  as 
I  have  half  promised  the  Vicomte  I  don't 
know  which  I  shall  take ;  perhaps  I  could 
^^7 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Pro-      manage  both,  as  I   believe  one  only  has  to 

posal  of     gj^  Qj^  ^  chair  and  every  now  and  then  get 
Jvlarria^e  . 

up  and  dance.     However,  I  will  see  when  I 

get  there.     Now  good-bye,  dear  Mamma.  — 

Your  affectionate  daughter,  Elizabeth. 


Chateau  de  Croixmare, 
September  1st. 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  have  had  a  pro- 
posal!  Isn't  it  too  interesting .f*  It  all 
happened  at  the  de  Tournelles'  last  night, 
but  I  never  blushed  or  did  any  of  the 
things  they  used  to  in  Miss  Edgeworth's 
novels  that  you  have  allowed  me  to  read  ; 
but  I  must  go  straight  on.  We  were  quite 
punctual  at  Chateau  de  Tournelle,  and 
got  there  as  the  clock  struck  eight. 
Heloise  looked  perfectly  lovely,  she  does 
hold  herself  and  walk  so  beautifully,  and 
her  head  is  such  a  nice  shape.  I  am  going 
to  be  like  her,  and  not  Hke  the  women 
at  Nazeby  (who  all  slouched)  when  I  am 
married.  Victorine  looked  better  than 
usual  too,  and  Heloise  had  put  some 
powder  on  her  face  for  her,  but  after- 
148 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

wards    it    came    off    in    patches    and    made  A  Pro- 

her   look    piebald ;    however,    to    start   she  ^^^f^  °f 

11       .    1  11  •  Marriage 

was    all    right,    and    everybody    was    m    a 

good   temper.     There  were  lots   of  people 

there    already,    and    the    Baronne   and  the 

Comtesse  received  us  in  the  hall. 

I  wore  the  white  silk  and  my  pink  tulle 

hat.     The   Marquis  and  the  Vicomte  both 

flew    across     when    we    arrived,    and     the 

Vicomte    got    to    me    first,    as   Godmamma 

detained   the    Marquis ;    and    this    is  where 

Frenchmen  shine,  for  although  he  told  me 

afterwards    that    he  wanted  to  murder  her, 

he  stood  with   a  beautiful  grin  on  his  face 

all  the  time.     The  Vicomte  at  once  began 

to    assure    me    I    had    promised    him    the 

cotillon^   but   I    would    not   say ;    and  as  he 

could    only    get    words    in    edgeways,  with 

Victorine  listening  all  the  time,  it  made  it 

rather  difficult  for  him.     Then  the  Comte 

and  Rene,   his  little  boy,  came  round  with 

a   silver    basket    full     of    buttonholes    and 

little    cards   with    names,  and   by  the    kind 

of  flower  we  got  we  were  to   know  which 

table    we    were    to    sit   at,  as  they  were  to 

be  decorated  with  the  same. 

149 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


Filles 


Les  Of  course  the  Baronne  had  arranged  for 

/^««^j  the  Vicomte  to  take  me  in ;  and  our  table 
was  pink  and  white  carnations.  Presently 
the  whole  company  had  arrived,  and  we 
started — a  huge  train,  two  and  two,  arm- 
in-arm  —  for  the  pavilion.  It  was  pretty  ; 
all  the  trees  hung  with  electric  lights  and 
Chinese  lanterns,  and  the  pavilion  itself  a 
fairyland  of  flowers.  There  were  about 
twelve  tables,  three  of  different  coloured 
carnations  for  the  ^^jeunes  filles  J'  and  the 
rest  with  roses  for  the  married  people. 
Godmamma  thought  it  most  imprudent 
separating  them  like  that,  and  would  hardly 
let  Victorine  sit  down  so  far  away  from 
her  until  she  saw  the  daughter  of  the 
Princesse  d'Hauterine  at  the  same  table. 
Victorine  went  in  with  another  officer  from 
Versailles,  in  the  same  regiment  of  Chasseurs 
as  the  Vicomte ;  he  was  like  a  small  black 
monkey.  The  Marquis  sat  with  the  Com- 
tesse  at  her  table,  and  Godmamma  and  the 
other  bores  had  a  table  with  the  old  Baron, 
etc.  The  Baronne  had  quite  a  young  man 
next  her.  I  expect  she  could  not  do  with 
the  chaperons  and  the  old  gentlemen. 
150 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

Most  of  the  girls  at  our  table  were  Les 
either  ill-at-ease  or  excited  at  the  unusual  y;"^^^ 
pleasure  of  being  without  their  mothers, 
and  at  first  no  one  talked  much.  The 
French  country  people  are  almost  as  frumpy 
as  the  English,  only  in  a  different  way,  but 
many  of  the  guests  were  very  smart,  and  of 
course  had  come  from  Paris. 

The  Vicomte  did  say  such  a  lot  of  agree- 
able things  to  me,  and  the  others  were  so 
occupied  with  their  one  chance  of  talking 
to  a  young  man  that  they  did  not  listen 
as  much  as  usual.  He  said  he  had  never 
spent  such  an  agitated  night  as  the  one  at 
Vernon.  So  I  said  No,  the  fleas  were 
horrid.  He  said  he  had  not  meant  them ; 
he  meant  that  the  sight  of  my  beautiful 
hair  hanging  down  had  caused  him  '^  une 
grande  emotion  "  and  "  reves  d^licieux" 

There  was  an  oldish  girl  next  to  him 
whom  he  knew ;  she  has  coiffed  St. 
Catherine  for  several  years  now,  and  was 
put  at  our  table,  I  believe,  to  be  a  kind 
of  chaperon.  She  happened  to  be  listen- 
ing just  then,  as  her  partner  would  talk 
to  Victorine*s  friend  —  the  pretty  one  with 
151 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

The  the  dirty  nails  —  who  was  at  his  other  side. 

Cotillon  5|^g  caught  the  word  "fleas,"  and  at  once 
asked  what  we  were  talking  about.  "  Un  sujet 
si  desagreable,"  she  said.  I  said  it  was  about 
our  journey  on  the  Sauterelle^  where,  at  Ver- 
non, Monsieur  de  la  Tremors  had  been  so 
badly  bitten  by  the  fleas  that  they  had  given 
him  silly  dreams.  He  said  his  dreams  were 
as  beautiful  as  those  produced  by  the  Hachis 
of  Monte  Cristo  (whatever  that  is),  so  the 
old  girl  exclaimed,  "  Quel  pouvoir  pour  une 
puce  ! "  She  thought  we  were  mad ;  and 
I  overheard  her  presently  telling  her  partner 
—  when  she  could  get  him  to  listen  —  that 
no  one  would  believe  the  bizarre  conversa- 
tions of  the  toques  English  unless  they 
actually  heard  them ! 

I  would  not  say  I  would  dance  the 
cotillon  with  the  Vicomte.  I  told  him  I 
had  half  promised  it  to  the  Marquis ; 
and  when  he  seemed  offended,  I  said  if 
he  was  going  to  be  disagreeable  I  would 
certainly  dance  it  with  Monsieur  de 
Beaupre  (the  Marquises  name,  which  I 
forgot  to  tell  you  before).  I  remember 
hearing  Octavia  say  once  that  it  never 
152 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

did   to   make   oneself  easy   to  young   men.  The 
that    the    more     capricious    one     was    the  ^^^^^^°^ 
better;    and   you    know   how    nice    Octavia 
is,  and   I  meant   to  be  like  her.     He  went 
on  imploring;   so   I   told    him    that   I   had 
come  there  to  enjoy  myself,  not  to  amuse 
him,  so  I  should  just  dance  with  whom  I 
pleased,   or    not   at   all   if  I    happened   not 
to   want  to.     He  said  I  was  "/r^j  cruelle^'' 
and    looked    perfectly   wobbly-eyed    at  me, 
but  I  did  not  mind  a  bit. 

As  dinner  went  on  all  the  girls  began  to 
talk  and  to  get  excited,  and  laugh,  and 
every  one  was  so  gay ;  but  I  could  see  God- 
mamma  craning  her  neck  with  anxiety  and 
disapproval,  and  I  am  sure,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  Princesse  d'Hauterine  being  at 
her  table,  she  would  have  jumped  up  and 
clawed  Vic  tori  ne  away.  It  came  to  an  end 
at  last,  and  we  returned  arm-in-arm  to  the 
house,  while  the  servants  arranged  the  pavil- 
ion for  the  cotillon,  Godmamma  collected 
Victorine  and  me,  and  made  us  stay  by 
her;  and  that  horrid  old  Mme.  de  Visac 
—  the  one  who  called  me  a  ^^jeune 
femme  "  —  came  up,  and  they  had  a  conver- 
153 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Nearly  a  sation.  Godmamma  said  it  was  "  tfes  im- 
^^^^  prudent''  having  the  dinner  first,  that  the 
champagne  would  go  to  the  young  men's 
heads,  and  with  all  the  care  in  the  world 
no  one  could  foresee  the  consequences ! 
The  garden,  too  !  If  they  should  dance 
t\iQ  farandole  I  what  opportunities!  It  was 
all  the  fault  of  the  chere  Baronne,  so  sadly 
'giddy  for  her  age.  She  never  thought  of 
the  anxieties  of  other  mothers,  having 
married  her  only  daughter  so  young !  I 
don't  know  what  Godmamma  feared,  but 
I  should  hate  to  think  you  could  not  trust 
me  to  behave  like  a  lady,  Mamma,  if  I 
was  out  of  your  sight  a  moment. 

I  saw  the  Marquis  talking  to  a  very  young 
youth ;  he  seemed  pleading  with  him  about 
something,  and  presently  the  youth  crossed 
over  and  kissed  Godmamma's  hand,  then 
asked  Victorine  for  the  cotillon.  She  looked 
furious,  but  she  was  obliged  to  say  yes, 
as  no  one  else  had  asked  her;  it  was 
getting  late,  and  the  Marquis  was  busy 
speaking  to  some  other  ladies.  Presently 
he  came  up  to  us,  and  the  young  youth 
said  before  he  could  speak :  "  N'ai-je  pas  de 
154 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

la  veine,  mon  cher.  Mile,  de  Croixmare  m'a  Nearly  a 
promis  le  cotillon.'*  Upon  which  the  Mar-  ^^' 
quis  asked  me  to  dance  it  with  him  —  right 
out  loud  before  Godmamma  !  and  when  I 
said  I  had  half  promised  it  to  Monsieur  de 
la  Tremors,  he  looked  so  cross  and  offended, 
that  I  thought  it  was  better  to  be  firm 
with  him,  as  I  had  been  with  the  Vicomte. 
He  —  the  Vicomte  —  came  up  just  then,  and 
they  looked  as  if  they  wanted  to  fight 
each  other;  so  I  said  if  they  would  stop 
frowning,  I  would  dance  it  with  both  of 
them,  but  if  they  were  nasty,  I  should  not 
dance  it  with  either ;  and  so  that  is  how 
it  ended,  I  was  to  have  one  on  each 
side. 

Godmamma  said  to  me  that  it  was  un- 
heard of  conduct,  and  might  have  produced 
a  duel,  and  when  I  tried  to  explain  to  her  that 
that  was  just  what  I  had  avoided,  she  looked 
angrier  than  ever,  and  would  not  understand. 
Was  n't  it  stupid  of  her.  Mamma  ? 

At  last  we  got  to  the   pavilion,   and  all 

sat  round,   and    having    both    the    Vicomte 

and   the    Marquis    to  talk   to,   I    did    have 

fun.     They  arranged  that  our  chairs  should 

IS5 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Two  be  against  the  wall,  and  not  in  the  row  that 
Partners  ^^iq  chaperons  were  behind.  Godmamma 
tried  to  make  signs  to  me  to  come  and 
sit  by  Victorine  in  front  of  her,  but  I 
pretended  not  to  see,  until  all  the  chairs 
were  filled  up.  The  Marquise  de  Verman- 
doise  was  next  me,  with  the  Vicomte  be- 
tween ;  she  was  dancing  with  the  Comte. 
We  were  gay  !  The  first  set  of  presents 
were  big  brocade  bags,  and  we  called  one 
our  ^^  pot  au  feu  "  and  pretended  it  was  for 
the  ingredients  to  make  hon  menage^  and  so 
all  the  presents  that  were  small  enough 
afterwards  we  put  in  there  to  keep  for 
me.  I  did  have  lots  I  A  cotillon  is  very 
easy,  Mamma,  as  you  have  often  told  me, 
and  it  was  fun  dancing  with  all  sorts  of 
strange  people  that  one  did  not  even  know. 
In  one  figure  a  huge  Russian  prince  got 
hold  of  me,  and  squeezed  me  until  I  very 
nearly  screamed ;  you  see.  Mamma,  how 
dreadful  foreigners  are  like  that.  It  was 
like  being  hugged  by  a  bear  in  the  Zoo; 
and  after  it,  he  kept  giving  me  flowers  or 
presents  if  I  dared  to  sit  down  for  a 
moment,  but  he  did  not  say  a  word  ex- 
156 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

cept  once  or  twice  a  mumble  of  "  Adorable  The  Two 
mademoiselle."  Partners 

My  two  partners  were  nice,  we  had  a 
perfectly  beautiful  time,  they  laughed  at 
everything  I  said ;  and  Madame  de  Ver- 
mandoise  leant  over  and  whispered  —  while 
they  were  both  away  doing  a  figure  — 
that  never  had  any  one  had  such  a  succes  as 
me,  and  that  all  the  old  ladies  would  be 
ready  to  tear  my  eyes  out.  Heloise  did 
not  dance  with  "  Antoine,"  but  he  sat  next 
her,  and  they  talked  while  his  partner  was 
away  with  other  people.  It  is  much  better 
to  have  two  partners.  Mamma,  because  then 
one  is  not  left  to  oneself  at  all,  and  they 
are  each  trying  to  be  nicer  than  the  other 
all  the  time.  The  Comtesse  led  the  cotillon 
with  a  cousin  of  hers  ;  he  does  do  it  well, 
and  does  nothing  else  in  Paris,  the  Baronne 
told  me.  At  last  we  got  on  towards  the 
end,  and  they  began  the  farandole.  You 
know  it.  Mamma  ?  A  lady  and  a  gentleman 
take  hands,  then  she  beckons  some  one,  and 
he  has  to  come ;  and  then  he  calls  another 
lady,  and  so  on.  It  goes  on  until  the 
whole  company  are  hand-in-hand;  and 
157 


THE     VISITS     Of^     ELIZABETH 


To  Elope  the  leader  runs  about  everywhere  with  this 


with  the 
Marquis 


chain  of  people  after  him,  dancing  a 
long  sliding  step,  to  such  a  lovely  go- 
ahead  tune.  The  leader  tears  all  over  the 
garden,  and  one  is  obliged  to  follow  in  and 
out.  It  is  too  exciting,  and  just  as  we 
got  to  the  furthest  end  of  the  illuminated 
paths,  and  had  rushed  round  into  the 
dark,  some  one  let  go,  and  in  the  con- 
fusion of  trying  to  catch  on  again,  the 
Marquis  and  I  were  left  behind. 

It  was  then  the  proposal  happened,  he  did 
not  wait  a  moment ;  he  talked  so  fast  I  could 
hardly  understand  him.  He  said  he  had 
heard  that  it  was  the  custom  of  our  country 
to  speak  directly  to  the  person  one  loved, 
without  consulting  the  parents  ;  so  he  hoped 
I  would  believe  he  meant  me  no  disrespect, 
but  that  he  adored  me.  He  had  fallen  in 
love  at  first  sight,  when  he  went  to  review 
Victorine  —  that  he  implored  me  to  fly  with 
him,  as  his  mother  would  never  consent 
to  his  marrying  an  English  woman  !  Think 
of  it.  Mamma  !  me  flying  with  the  Marquis  ! 
without  a  wedding  cake,  or  bridesmaids,  or 
pages,  or  trousseau,  or  any  of  the  really  nice 
158 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

bits  of  getting  married  —  only  the  boring  To  Elope 
part  of  just  going  away  and  staying  with  ^^  f 
one  man,  without  any  of  the  other  things 
to  make  up  for  it.  1  nearly  laughed  at 
the  ridiculousness  of  it,  only  he  was  so 
deadly  in  earnest,  and  would  hold  my  hand. 
I  said  I  could  not  think  of  such  a  thing, 
and  would  he  take  me  back  to  the  pavilion  ? 
He  became  quite  wild  then,  and  said  he 
would  kill  himself  with  grief;  and  such  a 
lot  of  things  about  love ;  but  I  was  so 
wanting  to  join  in  the  farandole  again  — 
we  heard  them  coming  nearer  —  that  my 
attention  was  all  on  that,  and  I  did  not 
listen  much. 

Anyway,  I  am  sure  runaway  matches 
are  n't  legal  in  France,  from  what  I 
heard  Jean  saying  two  nights  ago  at 
dinner;  and  I  told  him  so  at  last,  and 
that  pulled  him  up  short.  And  just 
then  the  train  passed,  and  I  stretched 
out  my  hand  to  the  last  man,  and  was 
whirled  away  back  to  the  pavilion  and 
the  people.  I  was  glad  to  get  away  from 
the  Marquis,  because  he  looked  desperate, 
and  you  can't  trust  foreigners,  they  have 
159 


THE     VISITS     OFELIZABETH 

God-         pistols    and    things    in    their    pockets,    and 

mamma's  j^^    rnight    have    shot    me.     When    we    got 
Friends  °  ^ 

back  to  our   seats,  the  defile    began    and    I 

took    the  Vicomte's    arm  to    go  and   make 

our    curtsey    to    the     Comtesse     and    the 

Baronne.     It  was  just  as  well  the  Marquis 

was      away,     because     they      might      have 

quarrelled  as  to  which  one's  arm  I  was  to 

take. 

Just  before  the  supper  tables  were  brought 
in.  Monsieur  de  Beaupre  turned  up  again. 
His  face  was  green  ;  he  came  up  behind 
me,  and  whispered  through  his  teeth  that 
I  had  broken  his  heart,  and  that  he  should 
marry  Victorine  !  So  you  see.  Mamma, 
nothing  could  have  turned  out  better,  and 
they  ought  to  be  very  grateful  to  me. 

We  had  the  gayest  supper,  all  at  little 
tables ;  and  it  was  arranged  that  we 
should  go  with  the  de  Tournelles,  and 
the  Baronne,  to  a  Ralli  de  Paper  to-day, 
given  by  the  75M  Cuirassiers  at  the  Foret 
de  Marly. 

While  we  were  going  to  the  house  to 
get  our  wraps,  I  overheard  two  ladies 
talking  of  Godmamma.  They  said  she 
160 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

gave  herself  great  airs,  and  considering  God- 
that  every  one  knew  that  years  ago  she  ^^^^  ^ 
had  been  the  amie  of  that  good-looking 
Englishman  at  the  Embassy  these  high 
stilts  of  virtue  were  ridiculous.  I  suppose 
to  be  an  amie  is  something  wicked  in 
French,  but  it  does  n't  sound  very  bad, 
does  it,  Mamma  ?  And,  whatever  it  is,  I 
wonder  if  poor  papa  knew,  as  he  was  at 
the  Embassy,  and  it  might  have  been  one 
of  his  friends,  might  n't  it  ?  I  expect  she 
had  not  a  moustache  then. 

I  am  dreadfully  afraid  the  Vicomte  won't 
be  able  to  be  at  the  Ralli  to-day,  although 
he  did  whisper  when  he  was  putting  on 
my  cloak  that  nothing  should  keep  him 
away,  and  that  then  I  would  believe  the 
extent  of  his  devotion.  He  won't  have 
gone  to  bed  at  all,  if  he  does  turn  up, 
as  he  will  only  have  got  back  to  Versailles 
just  in  time  for  his  duty  at  six,  and  how 
he  is  to  be  in  the  Foret  de  Marly  by  ten 
I  don't  know,  but  we  shall  see.  It  is  just 
time  to  start,  the  brake  is  at  the  door, 
so  good-bye,  dear  Mamma,  with  love  from 
your  affectionate  daughter,  Elizabeth. 
II  i6i 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Chateau  de  Croixmare, 

Thursday  Nighty  September  ist. 

The  Dearest     Mamma,  —  I    wonder   if  you 

'p^^/^\f^  have  ever  been  to  a  Ra/Ii  de  Papier?  It  is 
fun.  We  got  to  Marly  at  last  after  a  long 
drive.  The  rendezvous  was  in  the  middle 
of  the  forest,  in  such  a  lovely  glade,  and 
although  it  rained  for  the  last  twenty 
minutes  of  our  drive,  the  sun  came  out 
when  we  got  there,  and  the  lights  through 
the  trees  on  the  wet  green  were  so  beautiful. 
There  were  quantities  of  carriages  already 
arrived,  every  sort  —  victorias,  coaches,  pony 
carts,  charabancs,  motor  cars,  and  a  few 
of  the  really  odd  kinds  of  shandrydans 
that  one  sees  coming  to  country  garden 
parties  in  England.  There  were  also  num- 
bers of  officers  riding  in  uniform  —  cuirassiers^ 
chasseurs^  dragons  —  and  they  were  to  take 
part  in  the  chase.  There  was  one  officer 
who  was  to  lead  the  carriages  in  a  pro- 
cession through  the  short  cuts,  so  that  we 
might  not  miss  any  of  the  jumps,  and  he 
had  a  horn  slung  over  his  shoulder.  I  do 
think  it  such  a  sensible  plan ;  and  if  we 
162 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

could    have   the   foxes   trained    in    England  Better 
to    go  just   where   they    should,    and    then  ^^^^  f^^' 
always  drive  to  where  the  jumps    are,  like 
that,  how  much  nicer  hunting  would  be  — 
would  n*t  it,  Mamma  ? 

Well,  at  last  every  one  seemed  to  be 
arrived,  and  it  was  gay.  I  was  glad  God- 
mamma  had  been  too  tired  to  come,  so 
Victorine  was  actually  trusted  with  Jean 
and  Heloise  and  me.  We  had  picked  up 
the  Baronne  and  the  Comte  and  the  Mar- 
quise de  Vermandoise  at  Tournelle  on 
our  way.  The  brake  was  not  quite  like 
an  English  one ;  it  had  seats  facing,  and 
then  an  extra  one  behind  for  the  grooms, 
and  Jean  drove  with  Heloise  beside  him  ; 
but  he  does  look  like  a  trussed  pigeon,  and 
if  the  horses  were  not  as  quiet  as  mice, 
I  am  sure  the  Baronne  would  never  have 
trusted  herself  with  him. 

They  all  began  to  chaff  about  the 
Vicomte ;  "  II  ne  chevauchera  jamais  si 
loin,  pas  meme  pour  vos  beaux  yeux," 
the  Marquise  said.  Victorine  seemed 
annoyed  that  any  one  should  expect  he 
would  do  anything  for  me.  "  Evidemment 
163 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Vi-  Monsieur  de  la  Tremors  ne  viendra  pas,"  she 
comu  up  g^j^^  J  g^^  ^  beautiful  black  horse  being 
led  about  by  a  groom,  apart  from  the 
crowd,  and  I  wondered  who  would  ride 
it.  Just  before  the  horn  sounded  for  the 
carriages  to  start,  from  the  farthest  end  of 
the  allee  we  saw  an  officer  galloping  as 
hard  as  he  could.  "  Mon  Dieu!  C'est 
Gaston  !  *'  screamed  the  Baronne.  "  C'est 
pour  vous,  Enchanteresse,"  said  the  Comte. 
"  Que  c*est  ridicule,"  snapped  Victorine, 
while  the  Marquise  laughed  and  put  her 
tongue  into  her  gap.  "  Oh !  la  belle 
jeunesse  ! "  she  said. 

Meanwhile  the  Vicomte  had  dismounted, 
jumped  on  to  the  fresh  black  horse,  and 
was  bowing  beside  us.  "  Vous  voyez  je  suis 
venu,"  he  said,  and  he  looked  only  at  me. 
I  don't  know  why.  Mamma,  but  I  felt  the 
blood  rushing  all  over  my  cheeks  ;  it  was 
nice  of  him,  wasn't  it?  He  had  arranged 
it  all  yesterday,  and  by  changing  horses 
and  galloping  the  whole  way,  he  had 
managed  just  to  get  to  the  rendezvous  in 
time.  I  don't  believe  any  Englishman  that 
I  know  would  do  so  much  for  me,  and 
164 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

I  was  touched.  We  were  fortunate  in  The  Vi- 
being  almost  the  first  carriage  behind  our  ^^^jl.  "^ 
leader,  the  officer  with  the  horn,  and  he 
took  us  across  roads,  and  we  halted  at  last, 
where  we  could  see  the  whole  hunt  advanc- 
ing to  some  hurdles  which  had  been  erected 
at  a  few  yards*  distance  from  each  other 
down  the  allee.  Such  an  excitement  !  every- 
one encouraging  them  at  the  top  of  their 
voices,  their  uniforms  glittering  in  the  sun. 

The  jumps  were  not  very  high,  and 
most  of  the  officers  got  over  all  right, 
only  one  cuirassier  fell,  and  every  one 
shrieked,  but  he  was  n't  a  bit  hurt.  We 
clapped  those  who  jumped  especially  well, 
and  cried  "  Bravo  !  '*  It  was  fun.  Then, 
when  they  had  all  passed,  we  were  con- 
ducted through  some  more  short  cuts  to 
another  set  of  hurdles  covered  with  green 
boughs,  and  these  were  a  little  higher. 
It  did  sound  lively,  with  horns  blowing 
and  people  shouting  all  the  time.  The 
Vicomte  was  among  the  last,  as  he  passed 
us  following  the  paper,  but  he  waved  gaily. 
We  had  to  drive  very  quickly  to  be  in  time 
for  the  next  " obstacles^*  and  so  it  went  on. 
i6s 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Rewards  When  we  watched  the  last  ones,  the  Vicomte 

of  Gal-     ^^g  among  the  very  front  four. 

Then  the  exciting  part  began,  as  they  had 
to  race  for  the  ribbons,  white  for  the  winner 
and  blue  for  the  second;  but  it  was  quite 
a  long  way,  so  we  had  time  to  get  to  the 
winning-post,  the  flat  place  near  where  the 
Chateau  stood  formerly.  There  were  long 
tables  laid  out  with  gouter^  and  the  bands  of 
the  regiments  playing  nice  tunes.  Victorine 
began  to  be  disagreeable  directly  we  saw  them 
coming,  the  Vicomte  well  to  the  front. 
"  Comme  c*est  cruel  de  Monsieur  de  la  Tre- 
mors, de  presser  son  cheval  a  ce  point,"  she 
said,  while  even  the  Comte  became  excited, 
and  shouted,  "  Bravo,  Gaston  !  "  I  was 
pleased  when  he  came  in  first,  and  really 
he  rides  quite  nicely.  Mamma. 

Then  every  one  got  out  of  the  carriages 
and  there  was  a  ceremony.  The  wife  of  the 
Colonel  of  the  75th  chasseurs  (young  and 
nice  looking)  placed  a  white  ribbon  with 
gold  fringe  ends  round  the  neck  of  the 
Vicomte,  while  he  knelt  and  kissed  her  hand 
on  the  damp  grass,  and  when  he  got  up 
there  was  quite  a  wet  stain  on  his  knees. 
166 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

The  second  man  —  a  great  lumbering  cuiras-  Rewards 
sier  — got  a  blue  ribbon,  and  as  he  was  heavier  ^ 
the  stam  showed  worse  on  his  red  trousers. 
After  that,  we  all  began  to  eat  cakes  and 
drink  drinks  (I  don't  know  what  they  were 
made  of,  that  is  why  I  say  "  drinks,"  any- 
way they  were  sweet  and  nice),  and  as  the 
rain  had  stopped  we  danced  on  the  green, 
after  we  had  finished.  Now  you  know. 
Mamma,  we  could  never  have  any  fun 
like  this  in  England.  What  Englishman 
would  think  of  dancing  the  Lancers  on 
sopping  grass,  quite  gravely,  with  a  white 
ribbon  round  his  neck  like  a  pet  lamb,  and 
his  trousers  wet  through  at  the  knees  ? 
They  would  simply  laugh  in  the  middle, 
and  spoil  the  whole  thing.  The  Vicomte 
danced  with  me,  of  course,  and  while  we 
were  advancing  to  our  vis-a-vis  in  the  first 
figure,  he  managed  to  whisper  that  he  adored 
me,  and  now  that  he  had  ridden  all  night, 
and  won  the  white  ribbon  for  me,  I  ought  to 
believe  him.  I  did  not  answer  because  there 
was  not  time  just  then,  and  he  looked  so 
reproachfully  at  me  for  the  rest  of  the 
Lancers. 

167 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  It  began  to  rain  again  before  we  finished, 

""  and  we  got  into  the  brake  as  quickly 
Declara-  ^^  ^^  could.  It  was  a  perfect  wonder 
tion  that     they     were     not    all     exclaiming    at 

their  wet  feet,  and  catching  cold ;  but  it 
seems  that  dancing  on  the  green  and  these 
sort  oi  fetes  champetres  are  national  sports, 
and  you  don't  catch  cold  at  them.  It  is 
only  washing,  and  having  the  windows  open, 
and  the  house  aired,  and  things  like  that, 
that  give  cold  in  France.  The  Vicomte 
came  back  with  us,  and,  as  he  was  one  too 
many  for  the  brake,  we  had  to  sit  very  close 
on  our  seat.  He  was  between  the  Baronne 
and  Victorine,  who  made  room  for  him 
when  he  was  just  going  to  sit  down  by  me. 
She  kept  giggling  all  the  way  home,  and  the 
Vicomte  looked  so  squashed  and  uncomfort- 
able. I  was  next,  beyond  the  Baronne,  and 
as  both  of  them  could  not  keep  up  their 
umbrellas,  Victorine  was  obliged  to  put 
down  hers,  and  the  drips  from  the  Baronne's 
umbrella  got  on  to  the  roses  in  Victorine's 
hat.  At  last  they  ran  in  a  red  stream  right 
down  her  nose,  and  she  did  look  odd,  and 
each  time  she  said  anything  to  the  Vicomte, 
i68 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

he  nearly  had  a  fit  to  keep  from  laughing.  The 

and  when  we  got  back  and  she  found  how  ^^"" 

'bcfed 
she  was  looking  she  was  cross.  Dedara- 

The  Vicomte  took  hold  of  my  hand  when  tion 
he  helped  me  out,  it  was  n't  in  saying  good- 
bye, as  of  course  unmarried  people  only  bow 
and  don't  shake  hands.  Somehow  his  spur 
caught  in  my  dress,  and  we  had  to  stop  a 
minute  to  disentangle  it,  the  others  had 
bolted  into  the  house,  as  they  were  afraid 
of  the  rain,  so  we  were  alone  for  an  instant. 
The  Vicomte  at  once  kissed  my  hand  and 
said,  "7^  vous  adored  It  was  done  so 
quickly  that  even  Hippolyte,  who  had  come 
out  with  an  open  umbrella  to  help  us,  did 
not  see  —  at  least  I  hope  he  did  n't.  We 
went  in  to  Tournelle  to  have  something  to 
drink,  while  the  horses  were  being  rubbed 
down,  as  we  had  had  such  a  long  drive  ; 
and  it  was  at  the  first  mirror  Victorine 
discovered  her  red  striped  nose. 

While  I  was  sipping  my  punch,  I  heard 
the  Baronne  telling  Heloise  that  her  nephew, 
the  Marquis,  had  consented  to  marry  Victo- 
rine ;  and  that  the  Baron  would  go  over  to 
Croixmare  the  next  day  to  make  the  formal 
£69 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  demand  for  her  hand.     Then  she  whispered 

""       something,    and    they    looked    at    me,    and 

Declara-  Heloise    laughed,  while    the    Baronne  said, 

tion  "  Pauvre  gar9on.     C'est  dommage  qu'il  ne 

puisse    pas    combiner    le    plaisir    avec    les 

affaires.'*     And  when  we  got  back  to  Croix- 

mare,  Heloise  came  to  my  room  and  kissed 

me,  and  thanked  me ;  she  had  heard,  she  said, 

from  the   Baronne,  how   I  had  broken   the 

Marquis's  heart,  and  so  got  him  to  consent 

to  take  Victorine  ! 

I  am  glad.  Mamma,  that  getting  married 
is  differently  arranged  with  us.  I  should 
hate  to  have  some  one  because  somebody 
else  that  he  wanted  would  not  have  him. 
However,  Victorine  is  as  pleased  as  can 
be,  and  has  been  smiling  to  herself  all  the 
evening. 

Now  I  must  go  to  bed,  so  good-bye,  dear 
Mamma,  with  love  from  your  affectionate 
daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


170 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

Chateau  de  Croixmare, 

Saturday^  September  jrd. 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  am  sure  what  I  In  Due 
am  going  to  tell  you  will  surprise  you  °^^ 
quite  as  much  as  it  has  done  me.  Victorine 
is  really  engaged !  The  day  after  the 
Ralli  de  Papier  it  rained  again,  and  as  we 
were  sitting  in  the  little  salon  after  break- 
fast the  old  Baron  was  announced.  He 
was  dressed  in  a  frock  coat  and  a  tall  hat, 
just  as  if  it  was  Paris  and  the  height  of 
the  season.  They  made  conversation  for 
about  ten  minutes,  and  then  he  got  up 
and,  putting  his  heels  together,  he  said 
he  had  come  to  request  a  private  inter- 
view with  Mme.  la  Comtesse  Douairiere 
de  Croixmare,  and  Monsieur  le  Comte  de 
Croixmare,  son  fils ;  upon  which  Victorine 
looked  coy,  and  began  scrabbling  with  her 
toes  on  the  paquet.  Heloise  was  not  in 
the  room,  and  Godmamma  said  to  me 
that  it  was  time  for  our  walk,  as  the 
rain  had  stopped,  and  Mdlle.  Blanc  ("the 
Tug")  would  be  waiting.  So  we  bundled 
out  of  the  room,  and  Victorine  for  the 
171 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 


In  Due     first  time    became  affectionate    as    we  went 

^''"^        upstairs. 

"  II  est  venu  pour  demander  ma  main, 
pour  son  neveu.  Monsieur  de  Beaupre," 
she  said,  putting  her  arm  round  my  waist ; 
"J'espere  que  cela  ne  vous  chagrine  pas, 
cherie  ?  "  And  when  I  asked  her  why  in 
the  world  it  should  grieve  me  she  said 
that,  as  every  one  had  noticed  how  I  had 
flirted  with  the  Marquis,  she  supposed  his 
preferring  another  girl  could  not  be  quite 
pleasant !  I  could  have  screamed  with 
laughter,  if  I  had  not  been  so  angry ;  I 
felt  dreadfully  tempted  to  tell  her  of  the 
Marquis's  proposal  to  me,  and  why  he 
was  marrying  her — only  that  would  have 
been  playing  down  to  her  level  of  mean- 
ness. So  I  said  that  the  English  idea  of 
flirting  and  the  French  were  different ; 
that  the  Marquis  seemed  to  me  to  be 
quite  an  agreeable  Frenchman,  and  no 
doubt  she  would  be  very  happy ;  and  far 
from  it  grieving  me,  I  was  delighted  to 
think  she  would  be  settled  at  last,  as 
twenty-two  was  rather  on  the  road  to 
fixing  St.  Catherine's  tresses.  She  dragged 
172 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

her  arm  away  in  such  a  hurry  that  she  Girlish 
scratched  her  hand  on  a  pin  that  Agnes  ^^^^^^^^^ 
had  stupidly  left  in  my  belt.  "  Voyez ! 
vous  avez  fait  saigner  ma  main,"  she  said 
almost  crying  with  fury.  All  I  said  was, 
"Qui  s*y-frotte  s'y  pique/*  and  as  we  had 
got  to  the  door  of  my  room,  I  went  off  in 
fits  of  laughter  —  she  looked  so  like  a  cross 
monkey  I  could  not  help  it! 

Well,  you  can  think.  Mamma,  we  did  not 
have  an  agreeable  walk.  Victorine  talked 
in  her  most  prudish  goody  style  to  "the 
Remorqueur,'*  and  never  addressed  me; 
while  poor  Mademoiselle  Blanc  was  so 
nervous  trying  to  speak  to  both.  As  we 
got  to  the  turn  into  Vinant,  Monsieur 
Dubois  —  Victorine's  music-master  —  came 
up  the  street.  He  is  a  rather  vulgar 
looking  person,  with  a  black  moustache, 
and  lemon  yellow  gloves,  and  horrid  if  you 
have  to  be  quite  close  to  him.  Just  then 
we  stopped  to  give  some  sous  to  a  beggar- 
woman,  so  as  he  passed  he  said,  with  a 
great  flourish  of  the  hat :  Was  he  to  come 
on  Saturday  as  usual  for  the  lesson  ? 
Victorine  looked  down  all  the  time  modestly, 
173 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Girlish      and  "the   Tug"  answered:  Of  course  ;  so 
Amenities  ^^    ^^j^    j^    ^^^j^    ^^    ^    never-to-be-suffi- 

ciently-thanked  kindness,  if  Mademoiselle 
would  take  back  with  her  this  roll  of 
music  he  had  been  on  his  way  to  deliver 
chez  elky  as  it  was  much  out  of  his  road, 
and  he  was  pressed  for  time  at  his  next 
lesson.  Victorine  at  once  seized  it,  and 
he  bowed  again  and  walked  on.  Made- 
moiselle Blanc  had  already  a  parcel  in  each 
hand  she  was  taking  to  the  embroidery 
shop. 

After  that  Victorine  was  distraite,  and 
seemed  in  a  great  hurry  to  get  home;  she 
even  spoke  to  me,  and  while  "the  Tug" 
was  looking  at  wools  in  the  shop  she 
fidgeted  so  with  the  music  that  it  came 
undone.  I  offered  to  carry  it,  as  I  had 
no  parcels,  but  she  snatched  it  up  as  if 
it  was  gold,  and  in  doing  so  a  bit  of 
paper  fell  out  of  it,  and  as  I  picked  it  up 
I  could  not  help  seeing  it  began  "  Ma 
cruelle  adoreeJ'  She  said,  in  a  great  rage, 
that  it  was  only  the  words  of  a  song,  as 
she  put  it  in  her  pocket ;  so  I  don't  see 
why  she  should  have  been  so  furious  with 
174 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

me  seeing  it,  do  you.  Mamma? — but  she  The 

had  not    got  over  the  pin    in    my    belt,    I  ^^^^^~ 
\  11  1  master 

suppose.     Anyway  she  made  us  trot  home 

with  seven-leagued  boots. 

Godmamma  met  us  in  the  hall,  radiant, 
and,  clasping  Victorine  to  her  breast,  said 
she  must  announce  to  her  the  joyful  news 
that  M.  le  Baron  de  Fremond  had  made  the 
demande^  on  the  part  of  his  sister,  the 
Marquise  de  Beaupre,  for  the  hand  of 
her  peerless  Victorine,  for  her  son  and 
his  nephew,  the  Marquis  de  Beaupre,  and 
that  she  —  Godmamma  —  had  consented  to 
relinquish  to  them  this  treasure.  Jean 
came  out  of  the  smoking-room  just  then 
and  they  all  began  kissing  —  it  was  awful. 

I  got  upstairs  as  quickly  as  I  could,  and 
Heloise  soon  joined  me  there.  She  was 
enchanted  at  the  idea  of  really  getting  rid 
of  Victorine,  and  she  said  Godmamma*s 
rheumatism  was  growing  so  bad  she  would 
soon  have  to  spend  the  summer  at  German 
baths,  and  so  they  would  fortunately  at 
last  have  Croixmare  to  themselves ;  and 
she  could  not  thank  me  enough  for  having 
assisted  at  this  denoument, 
175 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 


Music 
master 


The  All  the  evening  Victorine  played  the  tunes 

the  music-master  gave  her,  and  once  or 
twice  broke  into  a  song  of  joy  ;  but  when 
I  asked  her  to  try  the  one  beginning  "  Ma 
cruelle  adoree,'^  she  looked  green,  and  said 
she  was  tired,  and  would  go  to  bed. 

Then  Jean  and  I  had  a  game  of  billiards 
— we  often  do  now  after  dinner.  The  salle 
de  billiard  opens  out  of  the  salon,  and  there 
is  a  glass  like  a  window  over  the  mantel- 
piece, so  that  you  can  see  into  the  two 
rooms  from  each  other.  It  always  reminds 
me  of  Alice,  in  "  Through  the  Looking 
Glass  *'  —  you  expect  to  find  a  mirror,  and 
you  see  into  another  room.  Godmamma 
generally  accompanies  us  into  the  billiard- 
room,  and  sits  bolt  upright  in  an  arm- 
chair watching  us,  but  to-night  she  was 
too  excited  to  pay  us  so  much  attention, 
and  stayed  talking  to  Heloise  about  the 
engagement.  Jean  seemed  nervous  and 
sad,  and  knocked  about  the  balls  aim- 
lessly, not  trying  a  bit.  It  is  only  French 
billiards,  but  still  one  has  to  play  pro- 
perly, so  at  last  I  said  that  evidently  the 
good  news  of  Victorine's  engagement  had 
176 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

so    distracted    him    that    he  could  not  pay  A  Game 
attention   to   the  game.     He   seemed  quite  ^^^^" 
startled.      "  Ma     foi  !    le    jeu !  "     he    said 
vacantly.     I  put  down  my  cue  and   asked 
him  quite  gently  what  was  the  matter  ? 

Just  then  the  bangle  you  gave  me  last 
Christmas  came  undone,  so  Jean  put  his 
cue  down  too,  and  offered  to  fasten  it. 
It  is  difficult  to  do  oneself,  so  I  thanked 
him  and  handed  him  my  wrist;  his  hands 
trembled  so  he  could  not  do  it.  I  thought 
he  was  ill,  and  bent  over  him  to  see. 
Fortunately  at  that  moment  we  happened 
to  be  at  the  one  part  of  the  table  which 
can't  be  seen  from  the  other  room  ;  because 
Jean  behaved  so  queerly  —  I  feel  sure  God- 
mamma  would  have  been  horrified.  He 
did  not  worry  about  the  bangle,  but  just 
began  kissing  my  hand ;  simply  dozens  of 
kisses.  I  pulled  and  pulled  to  try  and 
get  it  away,  but  he  would  not  let  go,  and 
kept  murmuring  that  at  last,  at  last,  he 
was  alone  with  me  ! 

Now  was  n't  it  too  annoying.   Mamma  ? 
I    could  not  call   out  or  make  a  fuss,  be- 
cause there  would  have  been  such  a  scene, 
12  177 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


A  Game    and  you  would  never  think    a  Frenchman 

ofBil 

Hards 


^f^^^-      could     be     so     strong.      For    although     I 


wrenched  and  dragged  I  could  not  get 
my  hand  away,  and  it  was  making  me 
crosser  and  crosser  every  minute.  At  last, 
when  he  began  to  kiss  my  wrist,  it  tickled 
so  I  was  afraid  I  should  laugh,  and  then 
he  would  think  I  was  not  serious ;  so  I 
seized  my  cue  with  the  other  hand,  and 
just  told  Jean  in  a  firm  voice  that  if  he  did 
not  let  go  that  instant  I  would  break  it 
over  his  head !     That  stopped  him  ! 

He  pulled  himself  together  and  said 
"  Oh !  pardon,  pardon,"  and  that  he  was 
awfully  sorry,  and  that  it  was  because  I 
was  going  away  soon  and  he  was  mad.  And 
that  is  what  I  believe  it  was.  Mamma  —  a  fit 
of  some  kind.  Did  you  ever  hear  there 
was  anything  odd  in  the  Croixmare  family  ? 
Anyway  it  shows  foreigners  are  not  to 
be  trusted,  for,  even  if  they  have  n't  pistols 
ready  to  shoot  you,  they  are  doing  some- 
thing queer  like  this. 

Presently  he  took  up  his  cue  and  began 
playing  again,  and  Heloise  came  in  from 
the  salon.  She  noticed  he  looked  different 
178 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

and  said  at  once,  "  Qu'avez-vous,  mon  ami  ? ''  Indiges- 
"  Une  mauvaise  digestion,"  replied  Jean,  and  *^°^ ' 
he  went  and  drank  sirop  at  the  side-table. 
I  think  I  should  perhaps  tell  Heloise  what 
it  really  was,  and  warn  her  to  keep  an 
eye  on  him,  but  then  it  might  worry  her, 
and  he  may  not  have  another  attack  for  a 
long  time.  No  one  would  suspect  him  of 
being  cracked,  he  looks  as  quiet  and  re- 
spectable as  the  pony  that  mows  the  lawn. 
The  post  is  starting,  and  I  must  go  to  break- 
fast, so  now  good-bye,  with  love  from  your 
afFecte.  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

P,  S.  —  The  day  after  to-morrow  there  is 
to  be  a  dinner-party  here  for  the  fiances  to 
meet.  All  the  Tournelle  party,  and  his 
mother  and  a  couple  of  cousins  will  be  here, 
besides  the  Vicomte  and  "  Antoine,"  and 
the  Marquise,  who  are  staying  at  Tour- 
nelle. 


179 


THEVISITSOF     ELIZABETH 

Chateau  de  Croixmare, 

Tuesday^  September  6th, 

Victo-  Dearest  Mamma, —- The  dinner  for  the 

^\^^  \,    fiances    came    off   last   night.      It    was    the 
disposition  r  '  1  1     J  1  -1 

iirst  time  we  nave  had  real  evenmg  dresses 

on    since    I    have    been    here.     I   wore  the 

pink  silk,  and  Heloise  was   delighted  with 

it,  she  says  you  could  not  possibly  improve 

upon  the  style  you  dress  me  in  —  it  is  ideal 

for  a  young  girl. 

The  day  after  Jean  behaved  so  queerly, 
he  was  not  at  breakfast ;  he  went  to  Paris 
and  I  did  not  see  him  until  the  evening, 
when  he  was  as  stolid  and  quiet  as  usual,  so 
it  must  have  been  a  fit,  and  perhaps  he 
went  up  to  Paris  to  see  his  doctor. 

Victorine  had  her  music  lesson,  and  I 
don't  know  what  could  have  upset  her ;  but 
"  the  Tug,'*  who  always  sits  in  the  room 
with  her,  came  flying  out,  saying  Victorine 
was  faint  and  she  must  get  her  a  glass  of 
water ;  so  I  ran  into  the  salle  ^ etude  to  see 
if  I  could  help  her.  There  she  was  flopping 
on  the  music-stool,  with  Monsieur  Dubois 
kneeling  by  her,  looking  cross  and  reproach- 
i8o 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

fill,  and  just  like  the  villain  in  the  panto-  Victo- 

mimes.     I    heard  her  say,  "  Cela  doit  etre  ''f"^  ^ .  .  " 
, .  -  , . ,  ^         ,  disposition 

completement    oublie  entre   nous  a  present 

quejevais  etre  Marquise."  I  don't  know 
what  it  was  about,  but  if  she  was  telling 
him  she  would  not  be  friendly  with  him  any 
more,  I  do  call  it  snobbish,  don't  you, 
Mamma  ?  just  because  she  is  going  to  be  a 
Marquise.  It  is  n't  as  if  he  was  an  English 
Marquis  even,  Hke  Lord  Valmond,  that  would 
be  of  some  importance  —  but  a  trumpery 
French  title,  without  any  land  or  money,  it 
is  ridiculous.  Of  course,  here  no  one  has 
his  own  land  really  since  the  Revolution,  I 
mean  like  "  Tournelle,"  they  only  call  the 
new  house  that ;  I  believe  the  real  "  Tour- 
nelle "  is  down  in  Touraine  somewhere  and 
belongs  to  some  one  else  now.  This  is 
Chateau  de  Croixmare,  but  then  Jean's 
great-grandfather  bought  it  back  again. 

Now  I  have  wandered  from  what  I 
was  telling  you  —  oh  !  yes,  about  Victorine 
and  M.  Dubois.  He  got  up  from  his  knees 
when  he  saw  me,  and  began  fanning  her, 
while  she  flopped  more  than  ever,  but  I  don't 
think  she  felt  very  faint,  her  face  was  so  red. 
i8i 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  And  when   "the  Tug"    returned  with   the 

/>>z«^r  Yvater  I  came  away,  as  they  both  looked  as 
rallies"  ^^  ^^^y  wanted  to  murder  me.  The  excite- 
ment had  made  Monsieur  Dubois'  collar 
quite  give  way,  and  he  looked  a  dirtier  and 
more  pitiable  object  than  usual. 

Such  an  affair  the  ^^  Diner  des  fian(^ailles  !  " 
Victorine  wore  a  pink  dress  too,  with  horrid 
bunches  of  daisies  on  her  shoulders  and  in 
her  hair  ;  and,  as  that  is  dark  and  greasy,  and 
dragged  off  her  face,  and  done  in  the  tightest 
twist  at  the  top,  it  does  not  look  a  suitable 
place  for  daisies  to  be  sprouting  from.  I  hate 
things  in  the  hair  anyway,  don't  you.  Mam- 
ma ?  However  she  was  delighted  with  her- 
self, so  it  was  all  right. 

We  waited  in  the  big  salon,  standing 
behind  Godmamma  t6  receive  the  company. 
First  arrived  the  old  Baron  and  the 
Baronne,  and  the  Marquis  and  his  mother. 
The  Marquis  kissed  Victorine's  hand  as 
well  as  Godmamma's  and  Heloise's,  and 
you  should  have  seen  her  bridling !  When 
he  got  to  me  he  made  the  stiffest  bow ; 
and  just  then  the  Comte  and  Comtesse 
de  Tournelle,  the  Marquise  de  Vermandoise, 
182 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


and    the    Vicomte    were    announced,    and  The 

des  Fian- 


immediately     following,     "  Antoine ''     and  "^'"^'^ 


two  cousins  of  Godmamma's.  To  finish  rallies''^ 
the  party  there  were  a  batch  of  the 
Marquis's  relations,  who  had  come  specially 
from  Paris.  We  were  spared  Yolande  and 
Marie,  who  usually  sit  up  to  dinner  with 
their  German  bonne,  and  eat  everything  that 
they  should  n't,  and  then  scream  in  the  night. 

There  was  a  buzz  of  conversation,  and 
the  Vicomte  talked  to  me,  but  I  could 
not  help  hearing  what  the  Marquis  said  to 
Victorine  — 

"  Vous  aimez  la  bicyclette,  mademoiselle  ?" 

"  Oui,  monsieur." 

"  Moi  j'aime  mieux  I'automobile." 

"  Mais  il  y  a  toujours  de  la  poussiere ! " 

And  they  are  going  to  be  married  in  a 
month  ! 

The  Vicomte  kept  bending  over  me  and 
looking  silly,  and  the  Marquis  fidgeted 
so  that  he  could  not  go  on  talking  to 
Victorine — one  eye  was  always  fixed  on  us. 
That  seemed  to  please  the  Vicomte,  for  he 
got  more  and  more  empresse,  and  I  could  not 
help  laughing  in  return.  At  dinner  he  took 
183 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Con-  in  Mme.  de  Vermandoise,  but  sat  next  me, 
tretemps  ^^^  ^^  ^^  Other  hand  was  one  of  the 
cousins,  a  harmless  idiot  too  timid  to  speak 
much,  and  with  all  kinds  of  horrid  baby 
fluffs  growing  on  his  face.  If  men  are  to 
wear  beards  (which  I  should  forbid  if  I  were 
the  Queen)  they  ought  to  be  shut  up  till 
they  are  really  grown. 

Opposite  to  us  were  Victorine  and  the 
Marquis,  and  Godmamma  and  the  Baron, 
and  Jean  and  the  Marquis's  mother.  They 
did  look  a  dull  lot,  and  the  Marquis's 
mother  eats  worst  of  all !  We  had  the 
greatest  fun  at  our  side,  Mme.  de  Verman- 
doise was  delicious  with  gaiety,  the  Comte 
was  on  her  other  hand,  and  we  four  never 
stopped  joking  and  laughing  the  whole  of 
dinner.  It  was  such  a  big  party,  so  the 
conversation  could  not  be  quite  as  general 
as  usual. 

The  Marquis  got  gloomier  and  gloomier 
as  time  went  on.  I  could  not  look  up 
that  I  did  not  find  his  angry  eyes  fixed 
on  me.  Even  Victorine's  aggressive  joy 
at  having  caught  him  was  damped  when 
she  could  not  get  him  to  pay  attention  to 
184 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

what  she  was  saying.  At  last  when  he  was  ^  Con- 
straining  his  ears  to  try  and  hear  my  con-  *^^^^^P^ 
versation  with  the  Vicomte,  she  got  abso- 
lutely exasperated  with  him,  and  addressed 
a  question  to  him  in  a  loud,  sharp  voice.  It 
made  him  jump  so  that  he  bounced  round 
in  his  seat ;  and  as  she  had  lowered  her  head 
to  put  the  piece  of  becassine  —  which  had 
been  poised  on  her  fork  while  she  spoke  — 
into  her  mouth,  his  jumping  round,  and 
her  raising  her  head  suddenly,  made  her 
daisies  catch  on  his  beard ;  and  you  never 
saw  such  a  funny  sight.  Mamma !  It  was 
a  nasty  little  wired  dewdrop  that  got  fixed 
in  poor  Monsieur  de  Beaupre's  fur,  and  there 
they  were  :  she  still  grasping  her  fork  and 
he  looking  ready  to  eat  her  with  annoyance. 
Their  two  heads  were  fastened  together,  and 
there  they  would  have  remained,  only  Hip- 
polyte  (who  always  goes  everywhere  with 
the  Baronne)  came  to  the  rescue,  and  un- 
tangled them.  But  it  hurt  the  Marquis  very 
much,  as  some  of  the  hairs  had  to  be  pulled 
out,  and  it  did  not  mend  matters  Hippolyte 
muttering,  "  Cela  doit  etre  que  Monsieur  le 
Marquis  doit  faire  plus  attention  a  T affaire 
185 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


The  Vi-    qu'il  a  en  main,  s'il  desire  garder  ses  cheveux 
'''^^'''      intacts.'* 


Proposal 


The  affair  made  quite  a  commotion  at 
the  table,  and  Victorine  so  nearly  cried 
with  rage  that  the  Marquis's  mother  had 
to  give  her  smelling  salts.  Mme.  de  Ver- 
mandoise  was  overcome  with  laughter,  and 
her  tongue  was  hardly  ever  out  of  her 
gap,  while  the  Marquis  sat,  white  with 
fury. 

When  we  left  the  table,  arm-in-arm, 
things  cleared  up,  and,  while  we  were  alone 
when  the  men  went  back  to  smoke,  Victorine 
was  made  to  "play  something,"  and  she 
really  plays  very  well.  It  was  so  stiflingly 
hot  that  at  last  some  one  —  the  Comtesse, 
I  believe  —  asked  to  have  the  windows 
opened  on  to  the  terrace.  There  was  a 
fair-sized  moon,  and  we  all  went  out  there, 
even  Godmamma  for  a  few  moments. 
The  men  came  out  of  the  smoking-room 
windows  and  joined  us,  and  for  the  first 
time  since  I  have  been  in  France  we  talked 
to  the  persons  we  wanted  to,  without  either 
shouting  across  some  one  else  or  making  a 
general  conversation. 

1 86 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

"  Antoine  "  and  Heloise  leant  over  the  The  Vi- 
balustrade  ;  the  Comte  and  the  Marquise  ^^J^^^  ^ 
stayed  by  the  window,  while  the  Vicomte 
whispered  to  me  by  the  steps  ;  and  Victorine 
and  her  Marquis  stood  like  two  wax  figures, 
not  saying  a  word,  by  the  orange  trees.  I 
don't  know  whether  it  was  owing  to  the 
moon  or  not,  but  the  Vicomte  did  say 
such  a  lot  of  charming  things  to  me.  He 
said  he  loved  me,  and  would  I  marry  him ; 
he  would  arrange  it  all,  as  fortunately  he 
has  no  parents  to  consult. 

I  seem  to  be  getting  quite  used  to  pro- 
posals now,  because  it  did  not  excite  me  in 
the  least.  But  I  don't  think  I  want  to 
marry  any  one  yet.  Mamma ;  so  I  told  him 
you  would  never  let  me  marry  a  French- 
man, and  he  had  better  forget  all  about  me. 
He  said  as  much  about  love  as  he  could 
in  the  ten  minutes  we  were  left  talking 
together,  and  put  it  so  nicely  —  not  a  bit 
that  violent  want-to-eat-one-up-way  the 
Marquis  has.  I  felt  once  or  twice  quite 
inclined  to  say  yes,  if  only  it  had  been  an 
affair  of  a  week ;  but  unfortunately,  even 
in  France,  you  have  to  stay  on  with  people 
187 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Vi-    longer    than    that,  and    that    is    the  part  I 

comte  5      could  not  have  managed. 

I  made  him  understand  at  last  that  I 
really  meant  not  to  have  him,  and  he  was 
very  miserable.  But  you  can't  tear  your 
hair  or  cry,  with  every  one  looking  on,  and, 
as  it  all  had  to  be  done  in  a  voice  as  if  one 
was  talking  about  the  weather,  he  did  not 
show  much.  Only  he  looked  very  white 
when  we  came  into  the  lights  again,  but  he 
whispered  as  he  said  good-night  that  he 
did  not  despair ;  he  would  always  love  me, 
and  when  I  married  some  one  else  his  day 
would  come,  which  I  did  not  think  kind 
of  him,  as  I  don't  want  to  be  a  widow. 

The  Marquis  had  not  a  chance  to  say  a 
word  to  me ;  he  tried  often,  but  I  avoided 
him,  he  looked  so  out  of  temper.  I  am 
sure  it  would  have  been  something  disagree- 
able. He  and  the  Vicomte  nearly  came  to 
blows  going  out  of  the  door,  just  over  a 
silly  thing  like  the  Vicomte's  sword  knock- 
ing against  the  Marquis's  boot.  I  hope 
they  won't  really  fight.  When  they  had 
all  gone,  and  we  were  going  up  to  bed,  I 
thought  Jean  looked  as  if  his  fit  was  coming 
i88 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

on  again,  so  I  bolted  into  my  room ;   and  Hippo- 
on  the  whole  I  am  rather  glad  to  be  coming  yJf  ^ 
back  to  England  on  Thursday.  monial 

To-day  we  go  over  to  Tournelle,  a  visit 
of  ceremony  for  me  to  say  good-bye,  and 
they  are  all  dear  people  there,  and  I  shall 
always  hope  to  see  them  again.  —  Now 
good-bye,  dear  Mamma,  with  love  from 
your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

P,S.  —  I  wish  his  hair  was  n't  cut  en 
hrosse.  But  of  course  one  could  n't  marry 
a  Frenchman  anyway. 


Chateau  de  Croixmare, 

Wednesday^  September  yth. 

Dearest  Mamma, —  It  was  really  quite 
sad  saying  good-bye  to  all  the  people  at 
Tournelle.  The  Baronne  almost  wept  over 
me,  and  said  that  they  would  be  dreadfully 
dull  without  me.  They  all  kissed  me  on 
both  cheeks,  and  even  Hippolyte  as  he  put 
us  into  the  carriage  after  I  tipped  him,  re- 
marked, "  Mieux  vaut  epouser  un  fran9ais  et 
189 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Hippo-  Tester  toujours  chez  nous,  vous  etes  trop  belle 
yjf  \  demoiselle  pour  le  brouillard  d'Angleterre  !  " 
monial  ^    wonder    after    all   if  the  Marquis  will 

ever  marry  Victorine,  as  it  seems,  when  he 
got  back  last  night,  he  was  in  such  a  temper 
that  he  made  a  scene  with  the  Baronne  and 
his  mother.  He  said  that  Victorine  made 
him  look  ridiculous,  that  she  was  unappe- 
tising, without  wit,  and  ugly  enough  to 
have  tranquillised  St.  Anthony  at  his  worst 
moment  of  temptation  —  whatever  that 
means.  (I  overheard  the  Baronne  tell  all 
this  to  Heloise  while  the  old  Baron  was 
making  me  compliments  in  his  fearful  Eng- 
lish.) The  Marquis  stamped  his  foot,  and 
finally,  bursting  into  tears,  announced  that 
he  would  go  to  Paris,  back  to  Adele  — 
whoever  she  is  —  and  find  consolation  !  So 
off  he  started  this  morning  the  first  thing. 
What  a  man.  Mamma !  crying  like  a  child  ! 
His  mother  and  the  Baronne  are  very 
anxious  about  him,  as  if  he  really  decides 
to  ^^ Jeter  le  mane  he  apres  la  cognee^'  who  is 
to  pay  his  debts !  The  Baronne  also  said, 
that  if  "  EHsabet "  (that 's  me)  had  only 
been  married,  it  would  have  been  all  a 
190 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

simple  matter;  because  then  there  would  Etiquette 
be  no  cause  for  him  to  despair,  and  ^^^Z  f 
would  not  have  occupied  himself  about  an 
ordinary  subject,  like  who  they  married  him 
to  in  the  meantime.  But,  as  it  is,  the  con- 
trast between  us  —  Victorine  and  me —  whom 
he  cannot  obtain — is  too  great,  and  the  sooner 
I  am  out  of  his  sight  the  better !  It  does 
sound  all  Greek,  does  n*t  it  to  you.  Mamma? 
I  repeat  it  just  as  the  Baronne  said  it. 

We  went  into  the  garden  presently,  and 
the  Marquise  and  the  Comte  and  I  walked 
together;  she  had  not  got  over  the  affair 
at  dinner,  and  did  nothing  but  laugh  and 
joke  about  it.  She  said  that  Victorine  at 
all  events  will  give  the  Marquis  no  anxieties 
in  the  future,  but  she  is  sure  he  will  have 
to  "  se  griser  "  to  get  through  the  wedding. 
Fortunately  Victorine  was  not  with  us,  as 
Godmamma  was  too  tired  to  accompany  her ; 
it  would  not  have  been  proper  for  her  to 
come  with  only  her  brother  and  sister-in- 
law,  as  her  fiance^  being  supposed  to  be 
at  Tournelle,  she  might  have  had  private 
conversation  with  him  not  under  God- 
mamma's  eye ! 

191 


Fiances 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Etiquette       Oh!  mustn't  it  be  awful  to  be  French! 

for  the^  Heloise  says  it  is  n't  so  bad  as  this  in  the 
smart  set  in  Paris ;  they  speak  to  one 
another  there  quite  a  lot  before  getting 
married,  and  do  almost  English  things,  but 
Godmamma  is  of  the  old  school. 

Before  we  left,  the  Marquis  turned  up, 
he  looked  thoroughly  worn  out  and  as  piano 
as  a  beaten  dog.  He  was  awfully  polite  to 
Jean  and  Heloise,  and  hardly  looked  at  me, 
but  as  I  did  not  want  to  leave  with  him 
still  feeling  cross  with  me,  I  got  the  chance 
at  last  to  tell  him  I  hoped  he  would  be 
happy,  and  to  congratulate  him.  He  bowed 
deeply  and  thanked  me,  and  then  under  his 
breath,  as  he  stooped  to  pick  up  a  flower 
I  had  dropped,  he  said,  "  Vous  avez  brise 
mon  cceur,  et  cela  m'est  egal  ce  qui  arrive," 
—  but  I  don't  believe  it.  Mamma,  he  hals 
not  got  a  heart  to  break,  he  is  only  a  silly 
doll  and  worthy  of  Victorine. 

I  saw  the  Baronne  talking  to  him  seriously 
while  we  were  having  "  five  o'clock ; "  and 
just  as  we  were  starting,  she  came  up  and 
said  low  to  Heloise,  who  was  beside  me, 
"  J'espere  que  tout  va  bien,  Adele  I'a  rem- 
192 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

place,    et   ne   veut   plus    de   lui !     Oh !    la  ^ 
bonne  fille  !  "     So  whoever  "  Adele"  is,  I  ^^'^'^^^ 
suppose    she    has    done   Victorine    a    good  p^^^ 
turn.     I  asked  Heloise  on  our   way  home 
if  "  Adele  "  was  a  relation  of  the  Marquis's  ; 
and  she  went  into  fits  of  laughter  and  said, 
"  Ouij    une    tres    proche/*    but   I   can't  see 
anything  to  laugh  at,  can  you.   Mamma? 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  ghastly 
dinner  party  at  Croixmare.  Three  sets  of 
provincial  families.  They  are  really  awful 
these  entertainments,  and  so  different  to 
English  ones  !  Nobody  bothers  about  even 
numbers.  You  feel  obliged  to  ask  the 
X's,  the  Y's,  and  the  Z's  from  duty,  and 
so  you  do.  It  does  n't  in  the  least  matter 
if  they  are  mostly  females;  you  have  to 
ask  the  family,  because  if  the  daughters 
are  grown  up  they  can't  be  left  at  home 
alone  —  they  would  be  getting  into  mis- 
chief This  is  the  kind  of  assortment  that 
arrives :  Papa  X,  Mamma  X,  and  two  girl 
X'es ;  Papa  Y,  Mamma  Y,  and  Master  and 
Miss  Y ;  Papa  Z,  Mamma  Z,  Aunt  Z,  and 
Mdlle.  Z  —  such  a  party! 

Godmamma  just  revels  in  these  frumps ; 
13  193 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  they    make    Heloise   furious,    and    the    airs 

Country  ^^  Victorine,  her  coyness  and  giggling, 
p^^fy  nearly  drove  me  wild.  I  sat  next  to 
Monsieur  Y,  and  although  he  is  a  Baron 
of  very  old  family  he  ate  like  a  pig.  The 
food  was  extraordinarily  good,  but  the  proof 
of  good  service  here  is  to  get  the  whole 
dinner  —  of  I  don't  know  how  many  courses 
—  over  under  the  hour.  So  one  has  no 
sooner  swallowed  a  mouthful,  when  one's 
plate  is  snatched  away,  and  one  begins  to 
devour  something  else.  But  with  this 
awful  man  gobbling  at  my  side,  and  those 
foolish  girls  giggling  beyond,  even  the 
forty  minutes  seemed  ages. 

Afterwards  in  the  salon  the  ^^jeunesfilles" 
were  sent  to  talk  at  the  other  side  of 
the  room,  supervised  by  "  the  Tug,"  who 
did  not  dine,  but  was  in  waiting.  If  you 
had  heard  their  conversation.  Mamma ! 
It  was  worse  than  the  day  the  two  came 
to  breakfast.  Just  one  endless  string  of 
questions  to  Victorine  about  the  Marquis, 
with  giggles  over  possibilities  of  their  own 
fiancaillesl  It  is  so  extraordinary  that  they 
can  ever  turn  into  witty,  fascinating  women 
194 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

like  Heloise  and  the  Marquise.     Of  course,  ^  Cure 
these    are  just   provincial    nobodies,  whom^'^'^  ^    ^^ 
Heloise    would    not  dream   of  knowing  in 
Paris ;  perhaps  the  girls  there  are  better. 

Victorine  told  them  the  Marquis  was 
"  Beau  comme  TArchange  Michel,"  and  had 
for  her  "  une  brulante  devotion  !  "  What 
will  she  say  if  after  all  he  refuses  to 
come  to  the  scratch  !  Jean  is  to  accompany 
Agnes  and  me  up  to  Paris  to-morrow  to 
see  us  safely  off  to  Dieppe.  I  hope  he 
won't  have  another  fit  in  the  train,  I 
shall  tell  Agnes  to  take  plenty  of  salts 
and  brandy  in  her  bag,  and  a  bottle  of 
soda  water,  because  I  have  always  heard 
that  a  sudden  shock  is  best  for  people 
in  fits,  and  one  could  pop  the  soda  water 
over  him  if  the  worst  came  to  the  worst. 
—  Now,  good-night,  dear  Mamma,  your 
affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

F.S.  —  An  awful  wind  is  blowing.  I 
hope  I  shan't  be  drowned  crossing  the 
Channel.  —  E. 


»95 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


The 

Emotion 
of  the 


Chateau  de  Croixmare, 
Thursday  night. 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  hope  you  got  the 
telegram  all  right  to-day  saying  I  would 
Marquis  ^^^  leave.  The  storm  became  really  so 
fearful  they  would  not  hear  of  my  start- 
ing, and  as  it  has  turned  out  I  am  very 
glad,  for  to-night  we  dined  at  Tournelle 
to  celebrate  the  Baronne*s  birthday,  and 
we  had  such  an  amusing  time.  All  the 
usual  lot  were  there,  as  well  as  those  two 
officers  who  came  to  the  Foire  with  us, 
and  about  three  or  four  more  people  from 
Paris,  so  we  were  quite  a  large  party. 
Everybody  gave  the  Baronne  a  present, 
and  such  baskets  of  flowers  as  she  had  in 
the  salon  !  "  Assez  pour  tourner  la  tete," 
as  Hippolyte  said. 

The  Baronne  was  dressed  in  pale  mauve 
and  looked  lovely,  only  such  a  funny  thing 
happened  at  dinner.  The  Vicomte,  who  sat 
next  to  her,  made  her  laugh  dreadfully,  just 
as  she  was  eating  her  soup,  and  she  choked, 
and  suddenly  one  cheek  quite  fell  in,  while 
the  other  stuck  out  as  if  a  potato  was  in  it. 
196 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

One  could  not  think  what  had    happened  ;  The 
but  it  appears  that  she  wears  "  plumpers,"  ^^^f^^^ 
of  a    kind    of    red     guttapercha,  to    keep  ji^arquis 
her    face  nice   and  round,  and    in    choking 
the    right    cheek's    one    got  jerked   across 
into    the    left  cheek,   and  that    is    how  she 
got  the  toothachy  look.      Mustn't  it  be  a 
bother,   Mamma,  to    have  to    do  all   that  ? 
but  the  Baronne  is   such   a  dear   that    one 
did  not  even  laugh. 

The  Marquis  had  to  sit  by  Victorine,  and 
I  saw  him  looking  at  the  pink  rosebuds  in 
her  hair  with  a  cautious  eye ;  and  he  sat  up 
as  straight  as  anything  in  case  she  should 
get  caught  in  him  again. 

But  it  is  all  right,  he  means  to  go  through 
with  it  —  the  Baronne  told  Heloise  directly 
we  got  there.  So  I  thought,  as  it  was  finally 
settled,  there  would  be  no  harm  in  talking 
to  him  a  little.  He  looked  at  me  at  dinner, 
I  smiled,  and  it  was  so  quaint.  Mamma,  his 
whole  face  seemed  to  flush  until  his  fore- 
head was  even  pink,  with  the  veins  show- 
ing at  the  side.  He  lifted  his  champagne 
glass  and  kissed  the  edge  of  it,  and  bowed 
to  me,  and  no  one  saw  but  the  Comte, 
197 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Elizabeth  and    he    went   into    a  chuckle   of  laughter, 

f",      as    he    whispered    to    me  that   if  Victorine 
wiched       .      .  /  ,  ,  .    , 

had  seen  she  would  certainly  tear  my  eyes 

out  on  the  way  home. 

Afterwards,  in  the  salon,  the  Vicomte 
managed  to  stand  behind  me  while  I  was 
talking  to  the  old  Baron,  and  he  said  in  a 
low  voice  :  Why  had  I  come  back  P  He  was 
at  peace  waiting  till  his  day  came,  and  here 
I  had  upset  everything,  and  he  should  have 
to  go  through  endless  more  restless  nights  ! 
I  said  that  I  was  sorry  the  storm  had 
prevented  my  starting,  especially  as  I  was 
unwelcome.  So  he  threw  prudence  to  the 
winds,  and  said  out  loud  before  the  Baron 
that  I  knew  it  was  not  that,  and  he  looked 
so  devoted  and  distressed  that  the  dear 
old  Baron  patted  him  on  the  back,  and 
turning  away  said,  "  Mon  brave  Gaston, 
moi  aussi  j'etais  jeune  une  fois.*'  And  he 
left  us  alone  by  the  window,  while  he 
stood  a  sort  of  sentry  in  front. 

The  Vicomte  did  whisper  a  lot  of  things ; 

he  said  just  for  one  evening  I  might  make 

him  happy  and    pretend  I  loved  him,  and 

let  him  call  me  "  ckerie"     So  I   said  ''  all 

198 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


right ; "   I    did    not  think    it   could   matter,  Eli-zabeth 

Sand- 
wiched 


as  I  am  coming  home  to-morrow.  Mamma,  ^^^^~ 


and  shall  probably  never  see  him  again, 
and  you  said  one  ought  always  to  be  kind- 
hearted  and  do  little  things  for  people. 
When  I  said  "  all  right,"  his  forehead  got 
pink,  and  the  veins  showed  just  like  the 
Marquis's  had  done  at  dinner,  and  he  said, 
"  Cherie  —  ma  cherie^  ma  bien-aimee  "  in  such 
a  voice  !  It  made  me  feel  quite  as  if  I 
wanted  to  listen  to  some  more,  only,  un- 
fortunately at  that  moment,  Godmamma 
came  up ;  she  brushed  the  Baron  aside, 
and  said  I  should  certainly  catch  cold  by 
the  window,  and  must  come  with  her, 
while  she  annihilated  the  Vicomte  with  a 
look. 

There  I  was,  taken  off  to  a  sofa  at 
the  other  side  of  the  room,  and  stuffed 
down  between  Godmamma  and  the  Mar- 
quis's mother.  You  can  think  I  was 
cross.  However,  I  paid  her  out,  for  I 
just  looked  at  the  Marquis,  who  was  seated 
by  his  Victorine  almost  silent  and  Hke  a 
dummy  (they  are  allowed  to  talk  together 
now,  as  long  as  they  are  not  alone  in  the 
199 


Togeth 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

The  room).     It  made   him   fidget  so,   he    could 

rlf^[^l  not  attend  to  what  she  was  saying.  And 
when  finally  he  got  up  and  came  over  to  us 
and  said,  had  I  seen  the  new  "  Nattier  '* 
the  Comte  had  just  bought,  which  was  in 
the  other  salon,  and  would  I  come  and 
look  at  it  ?  —  I  think  Godmamma  wished 
she  had  left  me  safe  with  the  Vicomte. 
She  could  not  say  anything,  as  half  the 
party  had  already  gone  to  look  at  the 
picture,  so  I  got  up  at  once  and  went 
with  him.  His  mother  is  years  older  than 
the  Baronne,  and  not  a  bit  gay  like  her. 
I  sawthem — her  and  Godmamma  — nodding 
their  heads  anxiously  as  we  left ;  no  doubt 
they  were  deploring  the  bad  bringing-up 
of  the  English. 

The  Marquis  said  it  was  awful  what  he 
was  going  through  ;  and  when  the  dancing 
began  presently  would  I  give  him  the  first 
valse  ?  I  said  Certainly,  and  by  that  time 
we  were  in  the  other  salon,  and  beside  the 
Marquise.  She  smiled  her  dear  little  smile, 
which  always  seems  to  mock  at  everything, 
and  put  her  tongue  into  her  gap  and  whis- 
pered :  "  Quelle  comedie  !  c'est  bien  petite 


200 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

espiegle,  amusez-vous  !  "  And  so  I  did !  I  The 
can't  tell  you  what  fun  it  was,  Mamma.  I  ^^^^^^ 
was  in  wild  spirits,  and  the  Marquis  answered 
back,  and  we  were  as  gay  as  larks,  until  I 
overheard  the  Marquis's  mother,  .who  had 
followed  us,  say  to  him,  in  an  acid  voice, 
that  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  it 
was  arranged  for  him  to  give  Victorine 
the  engagement  ring  that  evening  and  say 
a  few  appropriate  words  to  her,  and  he 
must  take  her  to  see  the  flowers  in  the 
conservatory,  and  get  it  over  there.  So  off 
he  had  to  go,  looking  black  and  peevish, 
and  supervised  by  the  two  mothers  —  who 
stood  at  the  risk  of  catching  their  deaths 
of  cold  by  the  door —  he  and  Victorine  went 
arm-in-arm  into  the  conservatory,  and  dis- 
appeared behind  some  pots  of  palms. 

It  appears  Mme.  de  Vermandoise  and  the 
Comte  were  in  there  too,  and  saw  what  hap- 
pened, and  she  told  Heloise  and  me  after- 
wards. The  fiances  came  and  stood  quite 
close  to  them,  with  only  a  bank  of  flowers 
between ;  and  they  said  the  palms  were 
pretty  and  were  growing  very  tall,  and  the 
Marquis  coughed,  and  Victorine  began 
20 1 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  scrabbling  with  her  toes  on  the  marble  floor 

Pi^nces  jj^  ^j^^^  irritating  way  she  has,  and  they 
neither  of  them  spoke.  At  last  the  Mar- 
quis dashed  at  it,  and  said,  as  she  already 
knew,  their  parents  had  arranged  they 
should  marry,  and  he  hoped  he  would 
make  her  happy.  At  that  moment  the  piano 
struck  up  very  loud  in  the  salon,  and  pre- 
vented Victorine  from  quite  catching  what 
he  said  ;  he  got  very  red  and  repeated  it 
again,  but  he  mumbled  so  she  still  was  not 
sure,  and  had  to  say  "  Pardon  ?  "  for  the 
second  time.  That  upset  the  Marquis  to 
such  a  point  that  he  said  "  Damn,"  which  is 
the  only  English  word  he  knows,  and  when 
Victorine  looked  horribly  surprised,  he 
dived  into  his  waistcoat  pocket  and  fished 
out  the  ring.  Then  he  took  her  hand, 
pulled  off  her  glove  backwards,  and  pushed 
it  on  to  the  first  finger  he  came  to,  which 
happened  to  be  the  middle  one !  He  just 
said  he  hoped  she  would  wear  it  for  his  sake; 
and  when  she  exclaimed, "  Mais,  monsieur !  ce 
n'est  pas  sur  ce  doigt  que  vous  devez  mettre 
la  bague  !  "  he  hardly  waited  to  apologise 
or  put  it  right  before  he  dragged  her  back 
202 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 


to    the   salon   and    deposited    her  with    the  The 
anxious  mothers  ! 


thers  !  Baronne's 


Mme.  de  Vermandoise  said  she  and  the  ^ 
Comte  nearly  had  a  fit  to  keep  themselves 
from  laughing  out  loud.  Was  n*t  it  too 
comic.  Mamma  ?  How  I  should  hate  to 
be  betrothed  like  that!  However,  Victorine 
seems  to  think  half  a  loaf  is  better  than 
no  bread,  for  she  kept  her  glove  off  all 
the  rest  of  the  evening,  and  looked  at  her 
ring  with  conscious  pride.  It  is  a  very  nice 
one,  a  ruby  and  a  pearl  heart  connected  by 
a  diamond  Marquis's  coronet.  They  ought 
to  have  added  a  money-bag  representing  the 
dot,  and  then  the  symbol  would  have  been 
complete. 

We  had  begun  to  dance  when  they  got 
back,  and,  as  the  Marquis  had  not  been  there 
to  claim  me,  I  was  valsing  with  Jean.  The 
Baronne  kept  the  Vicomte  close  to  her 
side  all  the  rest  of  the  evening  —  she  told 
me,  as  she  kissed  me  in  saying  good-bye, 
that  she  had  done  it  for  peace  sake,  as 
she  knew  he  and  the  Marquis  would  have 
had  a  quarrel  otherwise,  they  were  both  so 
madly  in  love  with  me.  "  Petite  embrouil- 
203 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  lante  d'heureuses  families  va  !  "  she  said- — 

Baronne's  «  M^is  je  t'aime  bien  quand  meme!  "  —  She  is 

^J  a  darling,  the  Baronne  !     The  Marquis  stood 

there  glowering,  and  never  offered  to  dance 

with  Victorine;  she  must  have  been  cross! 

We  had  another  farewell  all  round  when 
the  valse  was  over — Godmamma  would  not 
stay  for  another,  and  even  "Antoine"  seemed 
sorry  to  say  "  Adieu''  "  Depechez-vous  de 
vous  marier,"  he  said,  "  et  ensuite  revenez 
aupres  de  nous.  J*ai  envie  de  vous  faire  la 
cour,  mais  vous  etes  beaucoup  trop  danger- 
euse  pour  le  moment." 

"  ^a,  c*est  vrai ! "  said  the  Comte  and 
Jean  together,  and  every  one  laughed. 

Now  that  the  betrothal  ring  is  really  on 
Victorine's  finger,  and  Heloise  knows  she 
will  be  got  off,  she  does  not  mind  a  bit 
about  the  Marquis  looking  at  me.  She 
kept  laughixig  to  herself  over  it  all  the 
way  home ;  she  really  detests  Victorine. 
Godmamma  and  the  bride-elect  hardly 
spoke  a  word,  and  I  am  sure  if  a  perfect 
hurricane  blows  to-morrow,  they  won*t 
suggest  my  waiting  another  day,  so  I  shall 
be  glad  to  be  off. 

204 


CHATEAU      DE      CROIXMARE 

Good-night,  dear  Mamma ;  you  will  see  The 
me    almost   as    soon  as    you  get  this,  as   I  '^^^J^^^  ^ 
shall    only    sleep    the    night  in   London   at  ^^ 
Aunt  Mary's.  —  With  love  from  your  affec- 
tionate daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


205 


Retby 


R  E  T  B  Y 


Retby 


D 


September  20th. 

BAREST  MAMMA,— You  might  Lady 

TheoCi 
sia's  Pets 


have  prepared  me  for  what    Lady     ^^°^°' 


Theodosia  looks  like,  because  when 
I  arrived  yesterday  and  was  shown  into  her 
boudoir,  and  found  her  lying  on  the  sofa, 
covered  with  dogs  and  cats,  I  as  nearly  as 
possible  laughed  out  loud,  and  it  would  have 
been  so  rude.  She  had  evidently  been 
asleep,  and  it  looked  like  a  mountain  having 
an  earthquake  when  she  got  up,  and  animals 
rolled  off  her  in  all  directions.  A  poodle, 
two  fox  terriers,  a  toy  Spitz,  and  a  cat  and 
kitten,  had  all  been  sleeping  in  the  nooks 
her  outline  makes.  They  all  barked  in  dif- 
ferent keys,  and  between  saying,  "  Down, 
Hector  !  "  "  Quiet,  Fluff!  "  "  Hush,  hush, 
Fanny  !  "  "  Did  um  know  it  was  a  stranger?'* 
etc.,  etc.,  she  got  in  that  she  was  glad  to  see 
14  209 


sta  s 


Pets 


THE     VISITS     OF      ELIZABETH 

Lady  me,  and  hoped  you  were  better.  When  she 
iK)eoao-^  Stands  Up  she  is  ^^/ojW/  Her  body  dressed 
in  the  last  fashion,  and  then  the  queerest 
face  with  no  neck,  and  lemon-coloured 
hair  parted  down  the  middle,  and  not 
matching  a  bit  with  the  chignon  of  thick 
plaits  at  the  back.  It  looks  as  if  it 
were  strapped  on  with  a  black  velvet  band 
that  comes  across  her  forehead,  like  in  the 
pictures  on  the  nursery  screen  at  home 
that  the  Great-aunts  made  when  they  were 
children.  She  seems  as  kind  as  possible, 
and  has  the  fattest  wheezy  voice. 

Her  room  is  appalling ;  it  is  full  of  Early 
Victorian  furniture,  and  horrid  alabaster 
statuette  things,  under  glass  cases,  and 
then  a  few  modern  arm-chairs  covered  in 
gorgeous  brocade,  but  it  is  all  clawed  by 
the  cats,  and  soiled  by  the  dogs'  muddy 
feet,  and  you  are  unable  to  make  up  your 
mind  where  it  will  be  safe  to  sit.  When 
tea  came  in,  which  it  did  immediately, 
you  can't  think  what  it  was  like !  A  St. 
Bernard  and  another  poodle  joined  the 
party,  and  while  we  were  trying  to  get 
something    to    eat     and      drink,     they    all 


2IO 


R  E  T  B  Y 


begged  or  barked  or  pushed  their  noses  "  Clever 
under  the  muffin  dish  lid,  or  took  cakes  y^~„ 
from  the  side  table;  and  Lady  Theodosia 
kept  saying,  "  Clever  darlings ;  see,  they 
know  where  their  favourite  bits  are/*  It 
is  impossible  to  have  a  connected  conver- 
sation with  her,  because  between  every  few 
words  she  puts  in  ejaculations  about  the 
dogs.  I  was  obliged  to  simply  bolt  my 
crumpet  like  a  Frenchman,  to  keep  it  from 
being  snatched  from  me.  Just  as  we  were 
finishing  tea,  Mr.  Doran  and  three  men 
came  in.  He  is  a  teeny-weeny  man  with 
a  big  head  and  rather  weak  eyes,  and  he 
and  she  do  look  odd  together.  What  could 
it  have  been  like  when  they  trotted  down 
the  aisle  after  getting  married  ! 

It  is  a  mercy  Lady  Theodosia  is  only 
your  second  cousin,  and  that  her  shape  has 
not  descended  to  our  branch  of  the  family. 
All  the  "  children  "  —  as  she  calls  the  ani- 
mals—  barked  again  when  the  men  came 
in.  There  was  only  a  miserable  tea  left,  and, 
when  Mr.  Doran  ventured  to  say  the  dogs 
had  made  things  rather  messy.  Lady  Theo- 
dosia annihilated  him.     It  was  as  if  he  had 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


"  Clever    insulted  her  nearest  and  dearest !     But  one 
^''"        of  the  men  got  quietly  to  the  bell,  and  when 


lings'' 


the  footmen  came  they  grasped  the  situa- 
tion and  brought  some  clean  things,  so 
tea  finished  better  than  it  had  begun.  Just 
before  they  went  to  dress  Lady  Theodosia 
remembered  to  introduce  them.  The  only 
young  one  is  Mr.  Roper,  the  great  shot, 
and  the  other  two  are  Sir  Augustus  Grant 
and  Captain  Fieldin ;  they  are  oldish. 

When  they  had  gone.  Lady  Theodosia 
said  to  me  that  men  were  a  great  nuisance 
as  a  rule,  but  that  she  had  a  pet  friend, 
a  "  dear  docile  creature,  so  useful  with  the 
dogs,''  and  he  was  coming  back  by  the 
6.30  train.  You  would  have  laughed, 
if  you  could  have  seen  him  when  he  did 
arrive  !  A  fair  humble  thing,  with  a  squeaky 
voice  and  obsequious  manners.  He  had 
been  up  to  town  to  get  the  dogs  new 
muzzles,  as  the  muzzling  order  has  just 
been  put  in  force  in  this  county.  It  appears 
Lady  Theodosia  has  him  always  here,  and 
he  attends  to  the  dogs  for  a  home,  but 
I  would  rather  be  a  stable-boy,  would  n't 
you.    Mamma?     His    name    is    Frederick 


212 


R  E  T  B  Y 


Harrington,  and  Lady  Theodosia  calls  him  Feeding 
"  Frederick  "  when  she  is  pleased,  and  "  Har-  ^^f /^^°- 
rington  *'    if  anything  puts  her  out.      And       ^^^ 
as  she  says  it,    "  Harrington "    sounds   the 
fattest  word   you   ever   heard.     I    was  glad 
to  get  to  my  room  ! 

Most  of  the  house  that  I  have  yet  seen, 
which  was  not  refurnished  when  she  mar- 
ried in  1870,  is  really  fine,  with  beautiful 
old  furniture  and  china ;  only  everything 
within  reach  is  scratched  and  spoilt  by  the 
"  children."  It  must  make  the  family  por- 
traits turn  in  their  frames  to  see  Fluff  eating 
one  of  their  tapestry  footstools,  or  the  cats 
clawing  the  Venetian  velvet  chairs. 

There  was  a  dinner  party  in  the  evening. 
As  we  went  upstairs  to  dress,  Lady  Theo- 
dosia told  me  about  it.  She  said  she  was 
obliged  to  entertain  all  the  Aborigines  twice 
a  year,  and  that  most  people  gave  them 
garden  parties ;  but  she  found  that  too 
fatiguing,  so  she  had  two  dinners  in  the 
shooting  season,  and  two  at  Easter,  to 
which  she  asked  every  one.  She  just  puts 
all  their  names  in  a  bag,  and  counts  out 
twelve  couples  for  each  party,  and  then  she 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Feeding     makes    up    the    number  to    thirty-six    with 

the  Abo-    Q^j    creatures,    daughters    and    old    maids, 
rigines 

and   sons   and   curates,   &c.,   and    she   finds 

it  a  capital  plan.  She  said,  "  I  give  *em 
plenty  to  eat  and  drink,  and  they  draw  for 
partners,  and  all  go  home  as  happy  as  pos- 
sible feeling  there  has  been  no  favouritism  !  " 
She  explained  that  the  lawyers  and 
doctors  enjoyed  having  their  food  with  the 
earls  and  baronets  much  more  than  just 
prancing  about  lawns.  And  when  I  asked 
her  how  the  earls  and  baronets  liked  it, 
she  said  there  were  only  three  or  four, 
and  they  had  to  put  up  with  it  or  stay  at 
home  ;  she  had  done  it  now  for  thirty  years, 
and  they  were  accustomed  to  it ;  besides, 
she  had  the  best  chef  in  England,  and  any- 
way it  was  a  nice  change  for  people  not 
knowing  who  they  were  going  to  be  put 
next  to.  It  took  her  such  a  long  time  to 
tell  me  all  this,  and  to  see  me  to  my  room, 
that  I  was  almost  late,  and  she  did  not  get 
into  the  state  drawing-room  until  all  the 
guests  had  arrived. 

You  never  saw  anything  so  funny  as  it  was. 
Mamma.     Mr.  Doran  was  trying  to  be  polite 
214 


R  E  T  B  Y 


to  the  odd  collection,  evidently  not  quite  Drawing 
knowing  which  was  which.  Old  Lord  and-^'^ 
Lady  Devnant  were  glaring  at  the  rest  of  the 
company  from  the  hearth-rug,  with  a  look 
of  "  You  invade  this  mat  at  your  peril !  ** 
Sir  Christopher  Harford  paying  extrava- 
gant compliments  to  the  parson's  wife  (I 
knew  which  they  were  because  I  heard  them 
announced),  and  the  "  Squire  '*  and  Mrs. 
de  Lacy  —  who  came  over  with  the  Con- 
queror—  standing  apart  with  their  skinny 
daughters,  all  holding  their  noses  in  the 
air.  Everybody  seemed  to  be  in  their 
best  clothes,  and  most  of  the  women  had 
flowers  and  tulle  or  little  black  feathers 
sticking  up  in  their  hair,  and  bare  red  arms, 
and  skirts  inches  off  the  ground  in  front; 
you  know  the  look.  But  everything  seemed 
to  be  going  beautifully  after  Lady  Theo- 
dosia  rolled  in  (she  does  not  walk,  like 
ordinary  people)! 

Mr.  Doran  did  the  handing  round  of  the 
drawing-papers,  and  they  were  "  Marshall 
and  Snelgrove,"  and  "  Lewis  and  Allenby," 
and  "  Debenham  and  Freebody,"  &c.,  and 
if  you  drew  "  Lewis "  you  went  in  with 
215 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Drawing  whoever   drew  "  Allenby,"   and    so    on  ;    it 
^  was  a   capital  plan,   only  for  one    incident. 

I  was  near  Lady  Theodosia  when  Mr.  Har- 
rington rushed  from  the  other  end  of  the 
room,  and  whispered  to  her  in  an  agitated 
voice  that  the  "  Dickens  ''  of  Lady  Devnant's 
"  Jones "  was  Dr.  Pluffield.  She  was  not 
on  speaking  terms  with  him,  having  quar- 
relled with  him  for  sending  her  teething 
powders  by  mistake,  when  it  ought  to  have 
been  something  for  her  nerves.  All  Lady 
Theodosia  said  was  — 

"  Harrington,  you  're  a  fool.  What  are 
their  little  differences  to  me  ?  I  give  *em 
the  best  dinner  in  England,  and  they  must 
settle  the  rest  themselves  ! '' 

So  poor  Mr.  Harrington  had  to  go 
back  and  smooth  down  Lady  Devnant  as 
best  he  could ;  and  presently  we  all  started 
for  the  banqueting-hall.  There  were  several 
really  decent  county  people  there,  of  course, 
but  they  all  looked  much  the  same  as  the 
others,  except  that  they  had  diamonds  on. 
Old  Admiral  Brudnell,  who  has  a  crimson 
face,  was  taking  in  the  younger  Miss  de 
Lacy,  and  just  in  front  of  him  were 
216 


R  E  T  B  Y 


Dr.  Pluffield  and  Lady  Devnant,  whom  the  Marshall 

Admiral   hates.     I    heard    him   say,  getting  ^'^^^ 

11-1  1  1  1        ^r  r^  J     c?  o  bnelgrove 

purple  like  a  gobbler,      Come  on,  come  on, 

I  don't  mean  to  let  that  old  catamaran  get 

in  front  of  me !  "     And  he  dragged   Miss 

de    Lacy    through    the    doorway,    bumping 

the   others    to  get  past ;    and  she   told  me 

afterwards  her  funny-bone   had   got  such  a 

knock    that    she    could    hardly    hold    her 

soup  spoon  ! 

It  was  quainter  even  than  the  frumps' 
dinner  that  Godmamma  gave.  I  had  a 
very  nervous  young  man  with  red  hair  and 
glasses  to  take  me  in ;  I  drew  "  Snelgrove," 
so  he  was  "  Marshall."  He  evidently  had 
not  understood  a  bit  about  the  drawing, 
and  kept  calling  me  "  Miss  Snelgrove,'* 
until  I  was  obliged  to  say  to  him,  "  But 
my  name  is  not  Snelgrove  any  more  than 
yours  is  Marshall." 

"  But  my  name  is  Marshall,"  he  said, 
"  and  I  was  told  to  find  a  lady  of  the  name 
of  *  Snelgrove,'  and  I  wondered  at  the 
strange  coincidence." 

He  looked  so  dreadfully  distressed  that 
I   had   to   explain   to   him ;   and   he  got  so 

217 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Marshall  nervous  at  his  mistake  that  he  hardly  spoke 

^^^^  for  the  rest  of  dinner. 

bnelgrove        ^t>i  j-  i 

1  he    dishes    were    exquisite,    and     Lady 

Theodosia    enjoyed    them    all,  in    spite   of 

"  Fanny "    (that    is    the     Spitz)    constantly 

falHng  off  her  lap,  and  having  to  be  fished 

for    by    her    own    footman,    who     always 

stands    behind    her   chair,    ready    for   these 

emergencies.      I  call   it  very  plucky  of  the 

dog   to  go  on   trying ;    for  what  lap    Lady 

Theodosia  has  is  so  steep  it  must  be   like 

trying  to  sleep  on  the  dome  of  St.   Paul's. 

Mr.   Roper  sat  at  my  other  side,  and  after 

a  while  he  talked  to  me  ;  he  said  he  came 

every    year    to    shoot    partridges,    and    it 

was    always   the    same.     On    the    night   he 

arrived  there  was  always  this  dinner  party, 

and   some    years    the    most   absurd    things 

had    happened,    but    Lady    Theodosia   did 

not    care    a    button.      He    thought    there 

were  a  good    many   advantages  in  being  a 

Duke's  daughter ;  they  don't  dare  to  offend 

her,    he    said,   although    they   are  ready   to 

tear    one    another's    eyes    out   when    they 

are    put   with    the   wrong    people.      Lady 

Theodosia   puffed    a   good    deal    as    dinner 

218 


R  E  T  B  Y 


went  on,  I  could  hear  her  from  where  I  4fur 
sat.  She  is  in  slight  mourning,  so  below  ^^^^^^ 
her  diamond  necklace —  which  is  magnificent, 
but  has  not  been  cleaned  for  years  —  she 
had  a  set  of  five  lockets,  on  a  chain  all 
made  of  bog  oak,  and  afterwards  I  found 
each  locket  had  a  portrait  of  some  pet 
animal  who  is  dead  in  it,  and  a  piece  of 
its  hair.  You  would  never  guess  that 
she  is  Lady  Cecilia's  sister,  except  for  the 
bulgy  eyes.  Towards  the  end  of  dinner 
Mr.  Doran  got  so  gay,  he  talked  and 
laughed  so  you  would  not  "have  recognised 
him,  as  ordinarily  he  is  a  timid  little 
thing. 

When  we  returned  to  the  great  drawing- 
room,  it  was  really  comic.  Lady  Theodosia 
did  not  make  any  pretence  of  talking 
to  the  people.  Her  whole  attention  was 
with  the  "  children,"  who  had  just  been 
let  loose  from  her  boudoir,  where  her 
maid  had  been  keeping  them  company 
while  we  dined.  They  were  as  jealous 
as  possible  of  Fanny,  who  never  leaves 
any  part  of  Lady  Theodosia  she  can  stick 
on  to.  She  is  so  small  that  she  gets 
219 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

4f^er  lots  of  nice  rides  asleep  on  the  folds  of 
Dinner  }^^^  velvet  train.  Most  of  the  company 
were  terrified  at  this  avalanche  of  dogs, 
and  kept  saying,  when  they  came  and 
sniffed  and  barked  at  them,  "  poor  doggie," 
"  nice  doggie,'*  "  good  doggie,"  etc.,  in 
different  keys  of  nervousness.  I  felt  glad 
Agnes  had  insisted  that  I  should  not  put 
on  one  of  my  test  dresses.  She  highly 
disapproves  of  this  place.  As  well  spend 
the  time  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  with 
the  cage  doors  undone,  she  says  ! 

Now  and  then,  when  Lady  Theodosia 
could  bring  herself  to  remember  she  had  a 
party,  she  would  make  a  dash  at  some  one, 
and  as  likely  as  not  call  them  by  a 
wrong  name.  Lady  Devnant  and  Mrs. 
de  Lacy  and  the  few  more  county  people 
made  a  little  ring  with  her  by  themselves, 
and  gradually  the  doctors',  and  parsons', 
and  lawyers'  families  got  together,  and 
so  things  settled  down,  and  we  were 
getting  on  quite  nicely  when  the  men  came 
in.  It  did  all  seem  queer  after  the  ex- 
treme ceremony  and  politeness  in  France. 
When  she  had  fed  them.  Lady  Theodosia 
220 


R  E  T  B  Y 


seemed    to    think    her   duty  to    her  guests  Settling 
had  ended.  ^^^'^ 

Mr.  Doran  was  still  as  gay  as  possible, 
and  insisted  upon  Mrs.  Pluffield  singing ; 
it  was  a  love-and-tombstone  kind  of  song, 
and  sounded  so  silly  and  old-fashioned. 
And  after  that  lots  of  people  had  to  sing, 
and  I  felt  so  sorry  for  them ;  but  soon 
their  carriages  came,  and  they  were  able 
to  go  home ;  if  I  were  they  nothing  would 
induce  me  to  come  again. 

I  got  up  early  to  write  this  as  the 
post  goes  at  an  unearthly  hour,  so  now  I 
must  go  down  to  breakfast.  —  Good-bye, 
dear  Mamma,  your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


Retby, 
September  22nd. 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  was  surprised 
yesterday  when  I  got  down  to  breakfast 
to  find  Lady  Theodosia  already  there. 
She  is  awfully  active,  and  puffs  about 
everywhere    like  a  steam-engine.     She  will 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Settling  pour  out  the  tea  and  coffee  herself,  and 
Down  there  is  just  the  one  long  table,  not  a 
lot  of  little  ones  like  at  Nazeby  ;  but  our 
party  is  quite  small,  the  four  other  guns 
were  to  come  from  the  neighbourhood. 
Lady  Theodosia  asks  you  if  you  take  sugar 
and  cream,  and  then  perhaps  a  dog  takes 
off  her  attention,  and  as  likely  as  not,  when 
she  remembers  the  pouring  out,  you  get 
just  what  you  have  said  you  don't  take. 
I  wonder  she  does  not  leave  it  to  the 
servants. 

Mr.  Doran  was  as  quiet  as  a  mouse,  and 
said  he  had  a  bad  headache.  The  three 
other  men  had  enormous  breakfasts,  and 
did  not  speak  much,  except  that  Captain 
Fieldin  asked  if  we  were  not  coming  out 
to  lunch ;  and  Lady  Theodosia  said  of 
course  we  were — she  intended  to  drive  me 
in  her  pony  carriage.  When  they  had  all 
started,  she  took  me  back  to  the  boudoir, 
as  it  was  a  Wednesday,  and  the  state  apart- 
ments were  on  show,  and  she  hates  meeting 
the  tourists  from  Bradford.  I  think  it 
must  be  dreadful  having  to  let  everybody 
look  through  your  home,  just  because  you 

222 


RETRY 


have  fine  pictures,  and  it  is  historical,  and  a  A  Show 
prince  got  murdered  there  a  hundred  years 
ago.      Mr.   Doran  inherited  it  through  his 
mother,   1  think  you  said,  as  there  are  no 
Lord  Retbys  left. 

I  went  to  get  the  photograph  of  you 
I  always  have  on  my  dressing-table,  to 
show  it  to  Lady  Theodosia,  and  I  met 
quite  a  troop  of  tourists  on  the  stairs, 
and  all  the  place  railed  off  with  fat  red 
cords,  and  everything  being  explained  to 
them  by  a  guide  who  has  the  appearance 
of  a  very  haughty  butler,  and  lives  here 
just  to  do  this,  and  look  after  the  things. 
The  tourists  stared  at  me  because  I  was 
inside  the  rope,  just  as  if  I  had  been  a 
Royalty,  and  whispered  and  nudged  one 
another,  and  one  said,  "  Is  that  Lady 
Theodosia  ?  **  and  I  felt  inclined  to  call 
out  "  No,  not  by  twelve  stone."  It  was 
funny  seeing  them.  The  housekeeper  hates 
it ;  she  says  it  takes  six  housemaids  the  rest 
of  the  day  removing  their  traces,  and  getting 
rid  of  the  smell.  And  as  for  the  Bank 
Holiday  ones,  they  have  no  respect  for  the 
house  at  all.  Lady  Theodosia  told  me  the 
223 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Show     housekeeper    came   to    her   nearly    weeping 
Place        ^f^gj.    |.j^g    i^st    one.     "  Oh,  my    lady,"  she 
said,  "  they  treats  us  as  if  we  was  ruins ^ 

Mr.  Harrington  had  not  been  allowed 
to  shoot,  because  the  St.  Bernard  and  Fluff 
hated  their  muzzles  so,  when  they  were 
tried  on,  that  he  had  to  go  in  to  the  local 
harness-maker  and  have  them  altered  under 
his  own  eye.  He  got  back  just  as  we  were 
starting  for  lunch,  and  Lady  Theodosia 
made  him  come  with  us,  and  sent  the 
groom  on  with  the  lunch  carts.  She  drives 
one  of  those  old-fashioned,  very  low  pony- 
shays,  with  a  seat  up  behind  for  the  groom, 
and  two  such  ducks  of  ponies.  There 
hardly  seemed  room  for  me  beside  her, 
and  the  springs  seemed  dreadfully  down  on 
her  side.  She  generally  sits  in  the  middle 
when  alone,  Mr.  Harrington  told  me  after- 
wards. She  noticed  about  the  springs  her- 
self, and  said,  "  Frederick,  you  must  lean 
all  your  weight  on  the  other  side."  We 
must  have  looked  odd  going  along;  I 
squashed  in  beside  her  with  a  poodle  and 
Fanny  at  my  feet,  and  poor  Mr.  Harrington 
clinging  to  one  side  like  grim  death,  so  as 
224 


R  E  T  B  Y 


to  try  and  get  the  balance  more  level.     It  Mr 

Philan- 


seemed  quite  a  long  drive,  and  lunch  was  ^°^^^  ^ 
laid  out  on  a  trestle  table  in  a  farmhouse  f^oty 
garden,  and  was  a  splendid  repast,  with 
hot  entreesy  and  Lady  Theodosia  had  some 
of  them  all. 

It  appears  Captain  Fieldinand  Sir  Augustus 
Grant  are  constantly  staying  here  ;  they  help 
to  ride  Mr.  Doran's  horses  and  shoot  his 
birds.  They  are  all  old  friends,  and  rather 
hard  up,  so  Mr.  Doran  just  keeps  them. 
He  —  Mr.  Doran  —  seems  different  after 
meals ;  from  being  as  quiet  as  a  lamb,  he 
gets  quite  coarse  and  blunt.  The  rest  of 
the  party  were  just  the  kind  of  neighbours 
that  always  come  to  shoot.  Mr.  Roper 
told  me  they  never  have  smart  parties, 
with  only  the  best  shots,  and  heaps  of 
beautiful  ladies.  Mr.  Doran  asks  just  any 
one  he  likes,  or  he  happens  to  meet, 
and  the  shooting  is  some  of  the  best 
in  England,  and  awfully  well  preserved. 

Lady  Theodosia  had  a  very  short  tweed 

skirt  on,  a  black  velvet  jacket  with  bugles, 

and  a  boat-shaped  hat  and  cocks*  feathers ; 

but  she  always  wears  the  black  velvet  band 

IS  225 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Mr,  round  her  forehead.  Her  ankles  seemed 
^^nzw'j  to  be  falling  over  the  tops  of  her  boots, 
throty  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  only  walked  from  the  carriage 
to  the  lunch  table,  I  don't  think  her  skirt 
need  have  been  so  short ;  do  you.  Mamma  ? 
But  although  she  was  got  up  like  an  old 
gipsy  you  could  not  help  seeing  through 
it  all  that  she  really  is  well-bred ;  I  don't 
think  even  Agnes  would  dare  to  be  uppish 
with  her.  They  live  here  at  Retby  all  the 
year  round.  The  town  house  is  only  opened 
for  three  days,  when  Lady  Theodosia  comes 
up  for  the  Drawing-room.  And  they  seem 
to  have  a  lot  of  these  rather  dull,  oldish 
men  friends  who  make  long  visits. 

Going  home  after  lunch  Lady  Theo- 
dosia took  several  of  the  pies  and  joints 
to  poor  people  in  the  cottages  near,  and 
she  was  so  nice  to  them,  and  so  friendly ; 
she  knows  them  all  and  all  their  affairs,  and 
never  makes  mistakes  with  their  names,  or 
is  rude  and  discourteous  as  she  was  to  the 
people  at  the  dinner  party.  They  all  adore 
her.  She  hates  the  middle  classes,  she 
says,  she  would  like  to  live  in  Russia, 
where  there  are  only  the  upper  and  lower. 
226 


RETRY 


When  we  got  back,  Lord  and  Lady  Tyne-  Croquet 
ville  had  arrived  with  their  two  daughters.  ^.^^ 
They  are  about  my  age,  and  quite  nice  and  ^y^^ 
pretty ;  but  their  mother  dresses  them  so 
queerly,  they  look  rather  guys.  I  am  glad, 
Mamma,  that  you  have  none  of  those  silly 
ideas,  and  that  I  have  not  got  to  have  my 
hair  in  a  large  bun  with  ribbons  twisted  in 
it  for  dinner.  They  seem  quite  accustomed 
to  stay  here,  and  know  all  the  dogs  and 
their  ways.  They  are  much  nicer  than 
French  girls,  but  not  so  attractive  as  Miss 
La  Touche.  We  had  an  early  tea  in  the 
hall,  and  after  tea  we  played  croquet  until 
it  got  dark,  though  one  could  not  get  on 
very  well  as  the  dogs  constantly  carried  off 
the  balls  in  their  mouths,  and  one  had  to 
guess  where  to  put  them  back,  and  in  that 
way  Lady  Theodosia,  who  was  my  partner, 
managed  to  get  through  three  hoops  she 
would  n*t  have  otherwise.  It  is  n*t  much  fun 
playing  so  late  in  the  year,  as  it  gets  so  cold. 

I  think  the  elder   Miss   Everleigh   is  in 

love  with  Mr.  Roper,  because  she  blushed, 

just  as  they  do  in  books,  when  he  came  in, 

and  from  being  quiet  and   nice,  got  rather 

227 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Croquet     gigglish.     I  hope  I  shan't  do  that  when  I 

""^f'       am  in  love. 

ties  ^^  ^^^  quite  a  gay  dinner ;  Lady  Tyne- 

ville  talks  all  the  time,  and  says  such  funny 
things. 

I  am  really  enjoying  myself  very  much 
in  spite  of  there  being  no  excitements,  like 
the  Marquis  and  the  Vicomte.  To-day  we 
are  going  to  make  an  excursion  into  Hern- 
minster  to  see  the  Cathedral,  and  to-mor- 
row they  shoot  again.  —  Good-bye,  dear 
Mamma,  with  love  from  your  affectionate 
daughter,  Elizabeth. 


Retby,   Thursday. 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  don't  think  I  care 
about  looking  at  churches  much.  They 
don't  smell  here  as  they  do  in  France,  but 
on  the  other  hand  they  look  deserted,  and 
as  if  no  one  cared  a  pin,  and  there  are 
generally  repairs  going  on  or  monuments 
piled  up  at  the  side  waiting  to  be  put 
back  or  something  that  does  n't  look  tidy 
—  in  the  big  ones  I  mean,  like  York  and 
228 


RETRY 


Hernminster  that  we  saw  yesterday.  Mr.  ^n 
Doran  drove  us  in  on  the  coach,  and  Lady  ^^^^^^^^ 
Theodosia  sat  on  the  box  beside  him.  It 
was  too  wonderful  to  see  her  climbing  up, 
and  from  the  near  side  she  completely  hid 
Mr.  Doran ;  the  reins  looked  as  if  they 
were  staying  up  by  themselves,  you  could 
not  see  even  his  hands,  her  mountainous 
outline  blocked  all  the  space.  Miss  Ever- 
leigh  and  Mr.  Roper  and  I  and  Sir  Au- 
gustus sat  in  the  seat  behind  the  box  seat, 
and  the  other  Everleigh  sat  with  her  father 
in  the  back,  while  Mr.  Harrington  had  to 
go  inside  with  Lady  Tyneville  as  she  was 
afraid  of  the  cold  wind.  They  must  have 
had  a  nice  time,  for  both  poodles  were  in 
there  too,  and  one  terrier,  and  we  could 
hear  them  barking  constantly.  Fanny,  who 
has  a  wonderful  sense  of  balance,  was  poised 
somewhere  on  Lady  Theodosia.  The  horses 
are  beauties  and  we  went  at  a  splendid 
pace. 

Sir  Augustus  doesn't  seem  so  old  when 

he  is  sitting  by  you ;  he  said  a  lot  of  nice 

things    to    me.     We  went   straight   to    the 

"  Red  Lion "   and  had   lunch,  and   it  was 

229 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

An  a  horrid    meal,  everything  over  or  under- 

Agreeahle  ^^^^^  ^nd  messy  and  nasty.  The  dinner 
at  a  teeny  place  like  Caudebec  in  France 
was  delicious.  I  wonder  why  food  at 
country  hotels  in  England  is  so  bad  ?  At 
Retby  Lady  Theodosia  won't  touch  any- 
thing unless  it  is  absolutely  perfect.  She 
sent  a  dish  away  yesterday  just  because  a 
whifF  of  some  flavouring  she  does  not  like 
came  to  her,  but  at  the  "  Red  Lion "  she 
did  not  grumble  at  all ;  it  must  be  for 
the  same  reason  that  wetting  their  feet 
does  n't  give  French  people  cold  if  it  is 
at  a  national  sport,  that  made  her  put  up 
with  the  lunch  because  it  was  EngHsh  and 
had  always  been  the  same. 

I  was  glad  to  have  a  nice  piece  of  cheese. 
All  the  time  I  was  with  Godmamma  I  was 
not  allowed  to,  as  it  is  n't  considered  proper 
for  girls  there,  and  when  I  asked  Victorine 
why  one  day,  she  told  me  it  gave  ideas,  and 
was  too  exciting,  whatever  that  could  mean. 
So  at  the  "  Red  Lion "  I  just  had  two 
helpings  to  see,  as  this  is  the  first  chance 
I  have  had,  as  you  don't  care  for  cheese  at 
home.  But  nothing  happened,  I  did  not 
230 


RETRY 


feel   at  all  excited,   so   it  must  be   because  Country 
they  are  French.     Mustn't  it?  Shopping 

First  we  went  to  a  curiosity  shop  before 
going  to  the  Cathedral,  and  there  was  such 
an  odd  man  owned  it.  "My  good  Grigg- 
son,''  Lady  Theodosia  called  him  ;  he  seemed 
quite  pleased  —  although  we  none  of  us 
bought  anything  —  and  so  friendly  with 
Lady  Theodosia.  When  we  had  finished 
trotting  about  looking  at  the  old  streets 
and  the  Cathedral,  we  went  to  buy  some 
mauve  silk  to  line  a  cushion  that  Lady 
Tyneville  has  embroidered  as  a  present  to 
Lady  Theodosia.  It  is  so  funny  in  these 
country  shops,  they  always  bring  you  what 
you  don't  want.  Lady  Tyneville  said  she 
wanted  mauve,  and  showed  her  pattern, 
and  after  some  time  the  girl  who  served 
her  came  back  and  said,  "  Oh !  we  are  out 
of  mauve,  but  green  is  being  very  much 
worn." 

We  went  back  to  the  "  Red  Lion  "  and 
Mr.  Doran  and  Captain  Fieldin  joined  us. 
They  had  been  at  the  Club  all  the  time, 
and  were  full  of  local  news  about  the  cub 
hunting,  &c.  On  the  way  back  to  Retby 
231 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Country  Sir  Augustus  told  me  he  was  struck  with 
Shopping  j^g  ^j^g  moment  he  came  into  Lady 
Theodosia's  boudoir,  and  he  tried  to  take 
hold  of  my  hand.  I  call  it  very  queer, 
don't  you  ?  I  suppose  it  is  because  they 
think  I  am  young  and  want  encouraging, 
but  I  simply  detest  it,  and  I  told  him  so. 
I  said,  "Why  should  you  want  to  hold 
my  hand  ? "  and  when  he  looked  fooHsh 
and  mumbled  some  answer,  I  just  said, 
"  Because  if  you  are  afraid  of  falling,  and 
it  is  to  hold  on,  there  is  the  outside  rail 
of  the  coach  for  you  ;  I  hate  being  pawed." 
He  said  I  was  a  disagreeable  little  thing,  and 
would  never  get  on  in  life.  But  you  can 
see.  Mamma,  how  everything  has  changed 
since  you  were  young. 

Lady  Theodosia  put  on  such  a  splendid 
purple  brocade  tea-gown  for  tea,  but  Fluff 
would  jump  up  at  the  tray,  and  succeeded 
at  last  in  upsetting  a  whole  jug  of  cream 
over  her.  She  was  sitting  in  a  very  low 
chair  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  out  of,  and 
she  looked  quite  piteous  with  billows  of 
cream  rolling  off  her ;  it  got  into  Fanny *s 
nose  and  made  her  sneeze,  and  that  annoyed 
232 


RETRY 


the  other  dogs,  and  they  all  began  to  fight,  Mr, 
and  the  St.  Bernard  joined  in,  and  in  his  ^^J'^^^g- 
excitement  he  overturned  the  whole  table  p^j^if 
and  tray.  You  never  saw  such  a  catas- 
trophe !  The  dogs  got  quite  wild  with 
joy,  and  left  off  fighting  to  gobble  cakes, 
and  when  Mr.  Harrington,  who  had  been 
away  writing  letters,  rushed  in  to  see  what 
the  commotion  was,  he  did  catch  it !  We 
extricated  Lady  Theodosia  from  masses  of 
broken  china  and  dribbles  of  jam,  in  the 
most  awful  rage.  She  said  it  was  entirely 
Mr.  Harrington's  fault  for  not  being  there 
to  look  after  the  dogs.  Considering 
she  had  sent  him  to  write  about  their 
muzzles,  I  do  call  it  hard,  don't  you  ? 
Mr.  Doran  came  in,  and  when  he  saw 
the  best  Crown  Derby  smashed  on  the 
floor,  and  the  teapot  all  bent,  he  became 
quite  transformed,  and  swore  dreadfully.  He 
said  such  rude  words.  Mamma,  that  I  cannot 
even    write    them,  and   it   ended   up   with, 

"  If  you  keep  a  d d    puppy  to    look 

after  your  other  d d  puppies,  why  the 

devil  don't  you  see  he  does  it !  " 

I   hope     you     are  n't    awfully    shocked, 
233 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Mr.  Mamma,  at  me  writing  that ;  I  was  obliged 

Harring-  ^^^  ^^  show  you  what  awful  creatures  men 
Fault  really  are  underneath,  even  if  their  outsides 
look  as  meek  as  Mr.  Doran's.  Lady  Theo- 
dosia  burst  into  tears,  and  it  was  altogether 
a  fearful  scene  if  it  had  not  been  so  funny 
to  look  at.  We  none  of  us  got  any  tea, 
for  by  the  time  Lady  Theodosia  had  been 
got  to  dry  her  eyes,  and  things  were  cleared 
up,  we  were  all  only  too  glad  to  disperse. 
I  am  sure  a  lot  of  children  could  not  be 
so  naughty  as  these  dogs  are. 

Dinner  began  by  being  rather  strained, 
but  gradually  got  quite  gay.  Mr.  Doran 
would  have  up  three  different  brands  of 
champagne  for  every  one  to  try,  and  the 
men  seemed  to  like  them  very  much.  By 
dessert  everything  was  lively  again,  and  dinner 
ended  by  Mr.  Doran  singing  "  The  hounds 
of  the  Meynell,"  with  one  foot  on  the  table 
as  gay  as  a  lark.  But  was  n't  it  tiresome. 
Mamma?  when  we  got  into  the  drawing- 
room.  Lady  Theodosia  said  we  had  had  a 
long  day,  and  must  be  tired,  and  she  packed 
the  two  Everleighs  and  me  off  to  bed  be- 
fore the  men  came  in,  and  so  here  I  am 
234 


R  E  T  B  Y 


writing  to  you,  because  it  is  ridiculous  to  A 
suppose  I   am   going  to  sleep  at  this  hour,  v*  .  ''^ 
Agnes  and   I   leave   by  the  early  train   on  ^^^^ 
Saturday   morning,   so   good-bye   till    then, 
dear  Mamma ;  love  from  your  affectionate 
daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


235 


Carriston    "Towers 


CARRISTON    TOWERS 


Carriston  Towers, 
2yth  October, 

DEAREST      MAMMA,  —  I      shall  Carriston 
,  Towers 

never  again  arrive  at  a  place  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon ;  it 
is  perfectly  ghastly  !  As  we  drove  up  to 
the  door  —  it  was  pouring  with  rain  —  I 
felt  that  I  should  not  like  anything  here. 
It  does  look  such  a  large  grey  pile  ;  and 
how  cold  and  draughty  that  immense  stone 
hall  must  be  in  winter  !  There  were  no 
nice  big  sofas  about,  or  palms,  or  lots  of 
papers  and  books ;  nothing  but  suits  of 
armour  and  great  marble  tables,  looking 
like  monuments.  I  was  taken  down  end- 
less passages  to  the  library,  and  there  left 
such  a  long  time  that  I  had  got  down  an 
old  Punch  and  was  looking  at  it,  and  trying 
to  warm  my  feet,  when  Lady  Carriston  came 
in  with  Adeline.  I  remember  how  I  hated 
239 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Carriston  playing  with  her  years  ago  ;  she  always 
lowers  patronised  me,  being  three  years  older,  and 
she  is  just  the  same  now,  only  both  their 
backs  hav^e  got  longer  and  their  noses  more 
arched,  and  they  are  the  image  of  each 
other.  Adeline  seems  very  suppressed ; 
Lady  Carriston  does  not  —  her  face  is  carved 
out  of  stone.  They  look  very  well  bred 
and  respectable,  and  badly  dressed ;  nothing 
rustled  nicely  when  they  walked,  and  they 
had  not  their  nails  polished,  or  scent  on, 
or  anything  like  that;  but  Lady  Carriston 
had  a  splendid  row  of  pearls  round  her 
throat,  on  the  top  of  her  rough  tweed  dress 
and  linen  collar. 

They  pronounce  their  words  very  dis- 
tinctly, in  an  elevated  kind  of  way,  and 
you  feel  as  if  icicles  were  trickling  down 
your  back,  and  you  can't  think  of  a  thing 
to  say.  When  we  had  got  to  the  end  of 
your  neuralgia  and  my  journey,  there  was 
such  a  pause !  and  I  suppose  they  thought 
I  was  an  idiot,  and  were  only  too  glad  to 
get  me  off  to  my  room,  where  Adeline  took 
me,  and  left  me,  hoping  I  had  everything 
I  wanted,  and  saying  tea  was  at  five  in  the 
240 


CARRISTON      TOWERS 

blue  drawing-room.  And  there  I  had  to  ^  Dull 
stay  while  Agnes  unpacked.  It  was  dull !  °^^ 
It  is  a  big  room,  and  the  fire  had  only  just 
been  lit.  The  furniture  is  colourless  and 
ugly,  and,  although  it  is  all  comfortable 
and  correct,  there  are  no  books  about,  ex- 
cept "Romola''  and  "  Middlemarch "  and 
some  Carlyle  and  John  Stuart  Mill,  and 
I  did  not  feel  that  I  could  do  with  any  of 
that  just  then.  So  there  I  sat  twiddling 
my  thumbs  for  more  than  an  hour,  and 
Agnes  did  make  such  a  noise,  opening  and 
shutting  drawers,  but  at  last  I  remembered 
a  box  of  caramels  in  my  dressing-bag,  and 
it  was  better  after  that. 

Agnes  had  put  out  my  white  cashmere 
for  tea,  and  at  five  I  started  to  find  my  way 
to  the  blue  drawing-room.  The  bannisters 
are  so  broad  and  slippery  —  the  very  things 
for  sliding  on.  I  feel  as  if  I  should  start 
down  them  one  day,  just  to  astonish  Ade- 
line, only  I  promised  you  I  would  be  good. 
Well,  when  I  got  to  the  drawing-room,  the 
party  — about  twelve —  had  assembled.  The 
old  Earl  had  been  wheeled  in  from  his  rooms  : 
he  wears  a  black  velvet  skull-cap  and  a  stock 


i6 


24 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Dull  but  he  has  a  splendid  and  distinguished  old 
^^^^  face.  If  I  were  he,  I  would  not  have  such 
a  dull  daughter-in-law  to  live  with  me  as 
Lady  Carriston  is,  even  if  my  son  was  dead. 
The  boy,  Charlie  Carriston,  was  there  too ; 
he  does  look  a  goose.  He  is  like  those  pic- 
tures in  the  Punch  that  I  was  looking  at, 
where  the  family  is  so  old  that  their  chins 
and  foreheads  have  gone.  He  is  awfully 
afraid  of  his  mother.  There  were  two  or 
three  elderly  pepper-and-salt  men,  and  that 
Trench  cousin,  who  is  a  very  High  Church 
curate  (you  know  Aunt  Mary  told  us  about 
him),  and  there  are  a  Sir  Samuel  and  Lady 
Garnons,  with  an  old  maid  daughter,  and 
Adeline's  German  governess,  who  has  stayed 
on  as  companion,  and  helped  to  pour  out 
the  tea. 

The  conversation  was  subdued;  about 
politics  and  Cabinet  Ministers,  and  phea- 
sants and  foxes,  and  things  of  that  kind, 
and  no  one  said  anything  that  meant  any- 
thing else,  as  they  did  at  Nazeby,  or  were 
witty  like  they  were  at  Tournelle,  and  the 
German  governess  said  "  Ach "  to  every- 
thing, and    Lady  Garnons   and   Miss    Gar- 


CARRISTON      TOWERS 

nons  knitted  all  the  time,  which  gave  their  A 
voices  the  sound  of  "  one-two-three ''  when  ^°^^^Jf 
they  spoke,  although  they  did  not  really  ^^^ 
count.  No  one  had  on  tea-gowns — just  a 
Sunday  sort  of  clothes.  I  don't  know  how 
we  should  have  got  through  tea  if  the 
coffee-cream  cakes  had  not  been  so  good. 
The  old  Earl  called  me  to  him  when  he 
had  finished,  and  talked  so  beautifully  to 
me;  he  paid  me  some  such  grand  old- 
fashioned  compliments,  and  his  voice  sounds 
as  if  he  had  learnt  elocution  in  his  youth. 
There  is  not  a  word  of  slang  or  anything 
modern ;  one  quite  understands  how  he 
was  able  to  wake  up  the  House  of  Lords 
before  his  legs  gave  way.  It  seems  sad  that 
such  a  ninny  as  Charlie  should  succeed  him. 
I  feel  proud  of  being  related  to  him,  but 
I  shall  never  think  of  Lady  Carriston  ex- 
cept as  a  distant  cousin.  Both  Charlie 
and  Adeline  are  so  afraid  of  her  that  they 
hardly  speak. 

I  shan't  waste  any  of  my  best  frocks 
here,  so  I  made  Agnes  put  me  on  the  old 
blue  silk  for  the  evening.  She  was  dis- 
gusted. 

243 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

^  At    dinner    I     sat    between    Charlie   and 

^^"^^^^     one  of  the  pepper-and-salts  —  he  is  a  M.P. 
j^;j  They    are    going   to    shoot    partridges    to- 

morrow ;  and  I  don't  know  what  we  shall 
do,  as  there  has  been  no  suggestion  of  our 
going  out  to  lunch. 

After  dinner  we  sat  in  the  yellow  draw- 
ing-room ;  Lady  Carriston  and  Lady 
Garnons  talked  in  quite  an  animated  way 
together  about  using  their  personal  influ- 
ence to  suppress  all  signs  of  Romanism  in 
the  services  of  the  Church.  They  seemed 
to  think  they  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
stopping  it.  They  are  both  Low  Church, 
Miss  Garnons  told  me,  but  she  her- 
self held  quite  different  views.  Then  she 
asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  the  Reverend 
Ernest  Trench  had  a  "  soulful  face,'*  so 
pure  and  abstracted  that  merely  looking 
at  him  gave  thoughts  of  a  higher  life.  I 
said  No  ;  he  reminded  me  of  a  white  ferret 
we  had  once,  and  I  hated  curates.  She 
looked  perfectly  sick  at  me  and  did  not 
take  the  trouble  to  talk  any  more,  but 
joined  Adeline,  who  had  been  winding  silk 
with  Fraulein  Schlarbaum  for  a  tie  she  is 
244 


CARRISTON      TOWERS 

knitting.  So  I  tried  to  read  the  Contem-  The 
porary  Review^  but  I  could  not  help  hear-  ^^/^^  ^ 
ing  Lady  Carriston  telling  Lady  Garnons 
that  she  had  always  brought  up  Adeline 
and  Charlie  so  carefully  that  she  knew  their 
inmost  thoughts.  (She  did  not  mention 
Cyril,  who  is  still  at  Eton.) 

"Yes,  I  assure  you,  Georgina,"  she  said, 
"  my  dear  children  have  never  had  a  secret 
from  me  in  their  innocent  lives." 

When  the  men  came  in  from  the  dining- 
room,  one  of  the  old  fellows  came  and 
talked  to  me,  and  I  discovered  he  is  the 
Duke  of  Lancashire.  He  is  ordinary  look- 
ing, and  his  shirts  fit  so  badly  —  that  nasty 
sticking-out  look  at  the  sides,  and  not 
enough  starch.  I  would  not  have  shirts 
that  did  not  fit  if  I  were  a  Duke,  would 
you?  They  are  all  staying  here  for  the 
Conservative  meeting  to-morrow  evening  at 
Barchurch.  These  three  pepper-and-salts 
are  shining  lights  in  this  county,  I  have 
gathered.  Lady  Carriston  seems  very  well 
informed  on  every  subject.  It  does  not 
matter  if  she  is  talking  to  Mr.  Haselton  or 
Sir  Andrew  Merton,  (the  two  M.P.'s),  or 
24s 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  the    Duke,    who    is    the    M.F.H.,    or    the 

Duke  s      curate ;    she    seems    to    know    much    more 

about   politics,    and    hunting,    and    religion 

than  they  do.     It  is  no  wonder  she  can  see 

her  children's  thoughts  ! 

At  half-past  ten  we  all  said  good-night. 
The  dear  old  Earl  does  not  come  in  from 
the  dining-room  ;  he  is  wheeled  straight  to 
his  rooms,  so  I  did  not  see  him.  Miss  Gar- 
nons  and  Adeline  both  looked  as  if  they 
could  hardly  bear  to  part  with  their  curate, 
and  finally  we  got  upstairs,  and  now  I 
must  go  to  bed.  —  Best  love,  from  your 
affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

P.S.  —  Everything  is  kept  up  with  great 
state  here ;  there  seems  to  be  a  footman 
behind  every  one's  chair  at  dinner. 


246 


CARRISTON      TOWERS 


Carriston  Towers, 
28th  October, 


Dearest  Mamma,  —  I  was  so  afraid  of  Charlie's 

Dissin 

lation 


being  late    for  breakfast  this  morning  that  ^'^^^^« 


I  was  down  quite  ten  minutes  too  soon, 
and  when  I  got  into  the  breakfast-room 
I  found  Charlie  alone,  mixing  himself  a 
brandy  cocktail.  He  wanted  to  kiss  me, 
because  he  said  we  were  cousins,  but  I 
did  not  like  the  smell  of  the  brandy,  so 
I  would  not  let  him.  He  made  me  pro- 
mise that  I  would  come  out  with  him  after 
breakfast,  before  they  started  to  shoot,  to 
look  at  his  horses;  then  we  heard  some 
one  coming,  and  he  whisked  the  cocktail 
glass  out  of  sight  in  the  neatest  way  pos- 
sible. At  breakfast  he  just  nibbled  a  bit 
of  toast,  and  drank  a  glass  of  milk,  and 
Lady  Carriston  kept  saying  to  him,  "  My 
dear,  dear  boy,  you  have  no  appetite,"  and 
he  said,  "  No,  having  to  read  so  hard  as 
he  did  at  night  took  it  away." 

The  Duke  seemed  a  little  annoyed  that 
there  was  not  a  particular    chutney   in  his 
curried  kidneys,  which  I  thought  very  rude 
247 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

Charlie's  in  another  person's  house ;  and,  as  it  was 
fJtim'''  Friday,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Trench  refused 
every  dish  in  a  loud  voice,  and  then 
helped  himself  to  a  whole  sole  at  the  side- 
table. 

The  food  was  lovely.  Miss  Garnons  did 
not  eat  a  thing,  and  Lady  Garnons  was  not 
down  ;  nor,  of  course,  the  old  Earl. 

After  breakfast  we  meandered  into  the 
hall.  Smoking  is  not  allowed  anywhere 
except  in  the  billiard-room,  which  is  down 
yards  and  yards  of  passages,  so  as  not  to 
let  the  smell  get  into  the  house.  We 
seemed  to  be  standing  about  doing  nothing, 
so  I  said  I  would  go  up  and  get  my  boots 
on,  or  probably  there  would  not  be  time 
to  go  with  Charlie  to  see  his  horses  before 
they  started. 

You  should  have  seen  the  family's  three 
faces !  Charlie's  silly  jaw  dropped,  Ade- 
line's eyebrows  ran  up  to  her  hair  almost, 
while  Lady  Carriston  said  in  an  icy  voice : 
"  We  had  not  thought  of  visiting  the  stables 
so  early." 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  any  thing  so  ridiculous. 
Mamma  ?  Just  as  though  I  had  said  some- 
248 


CARRISTON     TOWERS 

thing  improper  !     I  was  furious  with  Charlie,  Th^ 

he  had  not  even  the  pluck  to  say  he  had  d'^  ^ 

.  raper 

asked  me  to  go;  but  I  paid  him  out.  I 
just  said,  "  I  concluded  you  had  consulted 
Lady  Carriston  before  asking  me  to  go 
with  you,  or  naturally  I  should  not  have 
suggested  going  to  get  ready."  He  did 
look  a  stupid  thing,  and  bolted  at  once ; 
but  Lady  Carriston  saw  I  was  not  going 
to  be  snubbed,  so  she  became  more  polite, 
and  presently  asked  me  to  come  and  see 
the  aviary  with  her. 

As  we  walked  down  the  armour  gallery 
she  met  a  servant  with  a  telegram,  and 
while  she  stopped  to  read  it  I  looked  out 
of  one  of  the  windows.  The  wall  is  so 
thick  they  are  all  in  recesses,  and  Charlie 
passed  underneath,  his  head  just  level  with 
the  open  part.  The  moment  he  saw  me 
he  fished  out  a  scrap  of  paper  from  his 
pocket  and  pressed  it  into  my  hand,  and 
said,  "  Don't  be  a  mug  this  time,'*  and 
was  gone  before  I  could  do  anything.  I 
did  not  know  what  to  do  with  the  paper, 
so  I  had  to  slip  it  up  my  sleeve,  as  with 
these  skirts  one  has  n't  a  pocket,  and  I  did 
249 


Pap. 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  feel    so    mad    at   having    done    a   thing   in 

^^'If      that  underhand  way. 

The  aviary  is  such  a  wonderful  place,  there 
seem  to  be  birds  of  every  kind,  and  the  parra- 
keets  do  make  such  a  noise.  There  are  lots 
of  palms  here  and  seats,  but  it  is  not  just  an 
ideal  place  to  stay  and  talk  in,  as  every 
creature  screams  so  that  you  can  hardly  hear 
yourself  speak.  However,  Miss  Garnons 
and  Mr.  Trench  did  not  seem  to  think  so, 
as,  while  Lady  Carriston  stopped  to  say, 
"  Didysy,  woodsie,  poppsie,  dicksie,"  to 
some  canaries,  I  turned  a  corner  to  see  some 
owls,  and  there  found  them  holding  hands 
and  kissing  (the  White  Ferret  and  Miss 
Garnons  I  mean,  of  course,  not  the  owls). 

They  must  have  come  in  at  the  other 
door,  and  the  parrots'  noises  had  pre- 
vented them  from  hearing  us  coming. 
You  never  saw  two  people  so  taken 
aback.  They  simply  jumped  away  from 
one  another.  Mr.  Trench  got  crimson  up 
to  his  white  eyelashes,  and  coughed  in  a 
nervous  way,  while  poor  Miss  Garnons  at 
once  talked  nineteen  to  the  dozen  about 
the  "darling  little  owlies,"  and  never  let 
250 


CARRISTON     TOWERS 

go    my    arm  until   she    had  got  me    aside.  The  My s- 

when  she  at  once  began  explaining;  that  she  ^f^^f/  y 
J    T  1 J  ^      .  .  ^  ,  .       Religion 

hoped   1   would    not  mismterpret   anythmg 

I  had  seen ;  that  of  course  it  might  look 
odd  to  one  who  did  not  understand  the 
higher  life,  but  there  were  mysteries  con- 
nected with  her  religion,  and  she  hoped 
I  would  say  nothing  about  it.  I  said 
she  need  not  worry  herself  She  is  quite 
twenty-eight,  you  know.  Mamma,  so  I  sup- 
pose she  knows  best ;  but  I  should  hate  a 
religion  that  obliged  me  to  kiss  White 
Ferret  curates  in  a  parrot-house,  should  n't 
you? 

Lady  Carriston  detests  Mr.  Trench,  but 
as  he  is  a  cousin  she  has  to  be  fairly  civil 
to  him,  and  they  always  get  on  to  ecclesias- 
tical subjects  and  argue  when  they  speak  ; 
it  is  the  greatest  fun  to  hear  them.  They 
walked  on  ahead  and  left  me  with  Miss 
Garnons  until  we  got  back  to  the  hall. 

By  this  time  the  guns  had  all  started,  so 
we  saw  no  more  of  them.  Then  Adeline 
suggested  that  she  and  I  should  bicycle  in 
the  Park,  which  has  miles  of  lovely  road 
(she  is  not  allowed  out  of  the  gates  by 
251 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Mys-  herself),  so  at  last  I  got  up  to  my  room, 
teries  of  ^^^  there,  as  I  was  ringing  the  bell  for 
Agnes,  Charlie's  piece  of  paper  fell  out  on 
the  floor.  I  had  forgotten  all  about  it. 
Was  n't  it  a  mercy  it  did  not  drop  while 
I  was  with  Lady  Carriston?  This  was  all 
it  was :  "  Come  down  to  tea  half-an-hour 
earlier ;  shall  sham  a  hurt  wrist  to  be  back 
from  shooting  in  time.     CharHe." 

I  could  not  help  laughing,  although  I 
was  cross  at  his  impertinence  —  in  taking 
for  granted  that  I  would  be  quite  ready 
to  do  whatever  he  wished.  I  threw  it  in 
the  fire,  and,  of  course,  I  shan't  go  down 
a  moment  before  five.  Adeline  has  just 
been  in  to  see  why  I  am  so  long  getting 
ready.  —  Good-bye,  dear  Mamma,  love  from 
your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


252 


CARRISTON     TOWERS 


Carriston  Towers, 
Saturday. 

Dear  Mamma,  —  Oh  !  what  a  long  ^n 
day  this  has  been !  But  I  always  get  so  -^"^^.^^ 
muddled  if  I  don't  go  straight  on,  that  I  had 
better  finish  telling  you  about  Friday  first. 
Well,  while  Adeline  and  I  were  bicycling,  she 
told  me  she  thought  I  should  grow  quite 
pretty  if  only  my  hair  was  arranged  more 
like  hers  —  she  has  a  jug-handle  chignon  — 
and  if  I  had  less  of  that  French  look.  But 
she  supposed  I  could  not  help  it,  having 
had  to  spend  so  much  time  abroad.  She 
said  I  should  find  life  was  full  of  tempta- 
tions, if  I  had  not  an  anchor,  I  asked  her 
what  that  was,  and  she  said  it  was  some- 
thing on  which  to  cast  one's  soul.  I  don't 
see  how  that  could  be  an  anchor  —  do  you. 
Mamma  ?  because  it  is  the  anchor  that  gets 
cast,  is  n't  it  ?  However,  she  assured  me 
that  it  was,  so  I  asked  her  if  she  had 
one  herself,  and  she  said  she  had,  and  it 
was  her  great  reverence  for  Mr.  Trench, 
and  they  were  secretly  engaged !  and  she 
hoped  I  would  not  mention  it  to  anybody ; 
253 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


An  and  presently,  when  he  joined  us,  would  I 

Anchor      ^li^d  riding  on,  as  she  had  so  few  chances 


in  Life 


to  talk  to  him  ?  That  she  would  not  for 
the  world  deceive  her  mother,  but  there 
were  mysteries  connected  with  her  religion 
which  Lady  Carriston  could  not  under- 
stand, being  only  Low  Church.  But  when 
they  saw  a  prospect  of  getting  married 
they  would  tell  her  about  it ;  if  they  did 
it  now,  she  would  persuade  the  Duke  not 
to  give  Mr.  Trench  the  Bellestoke  living, 
which  he  has  half  promised  him,  and  so 
make  it  impossible  for  them  to  marry. 

I  asked  her  if  Mr.  Trench  was  Miss 
Garnons'  anchor  too  ?  and  she  seemed  quite 
annoyed,  so  I  suppose  their  religion  has 
heaps  of  different  mysteries ;  but  I  don*t 
see  what  all  that  has  got  to  do  with  telling 
her  mother,  do  you  ?  And  I  should  rather 
turn  Low  Church  than  have  to  kiss  Mr. 
Trench,  anyway.  He  came  from  a  side 
path  and  joined  us,  and  as  soon  as  I  could 
I  left  them ;  but  they  picked  me  up  again 
by  the  inner  gate,  just  as  I  was  going  in  to 
lunch,  after  having  had  a  beautiful  ride. 
The  Park  is  magnificent. 
254 


CARRISTON      TOWERS 

At  lunch  I  sat  by  the  old  Earl.  He  Putting 
said  my  hair  was  a  sunbeam's  home,  and  °lj^  f 
that  my  nose  was  fit  for  a  cameo  ;  he  is 
perfectly  charming.  Afterwards  we  went 
en  bloc  to  the  library,  and  the  Garnons  be- 
gan to  knit  again.  Nobody  says  a  word 
about  clothes  ;  they  talked  about  the  Girls' 
Friendly  Society,  and  the  Idiot  Asylum,  and 
the  Flannel  Union,  and  Higher  Education, 
and  whenever  Lady  Garnons  mentions  any 
one  that  Lady  Carriston  does  not  know  all 
about,  she  always  says,  "  Oh !  and  who 
was  she  ? "  And  then,  after  thoroughly 
sifting  it,  if  she  finds  that  the  person  in 
question  does  not  belong  to  any  of  the 
branches  of  the  family  that  she  is  acquainted 
with,  she  says  "  Society  is  getting  very 
mixed  now."  Presently  about  six  more 
people  arrived.  There  seems  to  be  nothing 
but  these  ghastly  three  o'clock  trains  here. 
All  the  new  lot  were  affected  by  it,  just  as  I 
was.     There  were  endless  pauses. 

I    would    much    rather    scream    at   Aunt 

Maria  for  a  whole  afternoon  than  have  to 

spend  it  with   Lady  Carriston.     I  am  sure 

she  and  Godmamma  would  be  the  greatest 

255 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


Putting     friends  if  they  could  meet.     When   I   got 
on  the 

Clock 


up  to  my  room  I  was  astonished  to  find  it 
was  so  late.  I  had  not  even  scrambled  into 
my  clothes  when  the  clock  struck  five.  I 
had  forgotten  all  about  Charlie  and  his 
scrap  of  paper,  but  when  I  got  into  the 
blue  drawing-room,  there  he  was,  with  his 
wrist  bandaged  up,  and  no  signs  of  tea 
about.  What  do  you  think  the  horrid  boy 
had  done.  Mamma  ?  Actually  had  the  big 
gold  clock  in  my  room  put  on  !  There 
were  ten  chances  to  one,  he  said,  against 
my  looking  at  my  watch,  and  he  knew  I 
would  not  come  down  unless  I  thought  it 
was  ^YQ,  I  was  so  cross  that  I  wanted  to 
go  upstairs  again,  but  he  would  not  let  me ; 
he  stood  in  front  of  the  door,  and  there 
was  no  good  making  a  fuss,  so  I  sat  down 
by  the  fire. 

He  said  he  had  seen  last  night  how 
struck  his  Grandfather  had  been  with  me, 
and  he  did  want  me  to  get  round  him,  as 
he  had  got  into  an  awful  mess,  and  had  not 
an  idea  how  he  was  going  to  get  out  of 
it,  unless  I  helped  him.  I  said  I  was  sorry, 
but  I  really  did  not  see  how  I  could  do 
256 


CARRISTON     TOWERS 

anything,  and  that   he  had    better  tell   his  Cora's 
Mother,  as  she  adored  him.  Necklace 

He  simply  jumped  with  horror  at  the 
idea  of  telling  his  Mother.  "  Good  Lord  ! " 
he  said,  "  the  old  girl  would  murder  me,'* 
which  I  did  not  think  very  respectful  of 
him.  Then  he  fidgeted,  and  humm'd  and 
haw'd  for  such  a  time  that  tea  had  begun 
to  come  in  before  I  could  understand  the 
least  bit  what  the  mess  was  ;  but  it  was 
something  about  a  Cora  de  la  Haye,  who 
dances  at  the  Empire,  and  a  diamond  neck- 
lace, and  how  he  was  madly  in  love  with 
her,  and  intended  to  marry  her,  but  he 
had  lost  such  a  lot  of  money  at  Goodwood, 
that  no  one  knew  about,  as  he  was  sup- 
posed not  to  have  been  there,  that  he  could 
not  pay  for  the  necklace  unless  his  grand- 
father gave  him  a  lump  sum  to  pay  his 
debts  at  Oxford  with,  and  that  what  he 
wanted  was  for  me  to  get  round  the  old 
Earl  to  give  him  this  money,  and  then  he 
could  pay  for  Cora  de  la  Haye's  necklace. 

He    showed    me    her   photo,    which    he 
keeps   in    his    pocket.     It  is  just  like   the 
ones  in   the  shops  in   the    Rue    de    Rivoli 
17  257 


THE     VISITS     OF      ELIZABETH 

Corals       that  Mademoiselle  never  would  let  me  stop 
Necklace   ^^^   \o6k    at   in    Paris.     I   am    sure    Lady 
Carriston    can't    have    been    having   second 
sight  into  her  children's  thoughts  lately  ! 

Just  then  Lady  Garnons  and  some  of  the 
new  people  came  in,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  stop.  We  had  a  kind  of  high  tea,  as 
the  Conservative  meeting  was  to  be  at  eight, 
and  it  is  three-quarters  of  an  hour's  drive 
into  Barchurch,  and  there  was  to  be  a  big 
supper  after.  Lady  Carriston  did  make 
such  a  fuss  over  Charlie's  wrist.  She 
wanted  to  know  was  it  badly  sprained,  and 
did  it  ache  much,  and  was  it  swollen,  and 
he  had  the  impudence  to  let  her  almost  cry 
over  him,  and  pretended  to  wince  when 
she  touched  it !  As  we  were  driving  in  to 
the  meeting  he  sat  next  me  in  the  omni- 
bus, and  kept  squeezing  my  arm  all  the 
time  under  the  rug,  which  did  annoy  me 
so,  that  at  last  I  gave  his  ankle  a  nasty  kick, 
and  then  he  left  off  for  a  little.  He  has 
not  the  ways  of  a  gentleman,  and  I  think  he 
had  better  marry  his  Cora,  and  settle  down 
into  a  class  more  suited  to  him  than  ours ; 
but  /  shan't  help  him  with  his  Grandfather. 


CARRISTON      TOWERS 

Have  you  ever  been  to  a  political  meeting,  Politics 
dear  Mamma  ?  It  is  funny  !  All  these  old  ^"^  . 
gentlemen  sit  up  on  a  platform  and  talk 
such  a  lot.  The  Duke  put  in  "  buts  "  and 
"  ifs  "  and  "  thats  "  over  and  over  again 
when  he  could  not  think  of  a  word,  and 
you  were  n*t  a  bit  the  wiser  when  he  had 
finished,  except  that  it  was  awfully  wrong 
to  put  up  barbed  wire ;  but  I  can't  see  what 
that  has  to  do  with  politics,  can  you  ?  One 
of  the  pepper-and-salts  did  speak  nicely, 
and  so  did  one  of  the  new  people  —  quite 
a  youngish  person ;  but  they  all  had  such  a 
lot  of  words,  when  it  would  have  done 
just  as  well  if  they  had  simply  said  that  of 
course  our  side  was  the  right  one  —  because 
trade  was  good  when  we  were  in,  and  that 
there  are  much  better  people  Conservatives 
than  Radicals.  Anyway,  no  one  stays  a 
Radical  when  he  gets  to  be  his  own  father, 
as  it  would  be  absurd  to  cut  off  one's  nose 
to  spite  one's  face  —  don't  you  think  so, 
Mamma  ?  So  it  is  nonsense  talking  so 
much. 

One  or  two  rude  people  in  the  back  called 
out  things,  but  no  one  paid  any  attention ; 
259 


Principle 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Politics  and  at  last,  after  lots  of  cheering,  we  got 
^ .  .^j  into  the  omnibus  again.  I  was  hungry.  At 
supper  we  sat  more  or  less  anyhow,  and  I 
happened  to  be  next  the  youngish  person 
who  spoke.  I  don't  know  his  name,  but 
I  know  he  wasn't  any  one  very  grand,  as 
Lady  Carriston  said,  before  they  arrived  in 
the  afternoon,  that  things  were  changing 
dreadfully  ;  that  even  the  Conservative  party 
was  being  invaded  by  people  of  no  family ; 
and  she  gave  him  two  fingers  when  she  said 
"How  d'ye  do?"  But  if  he  is  nobody,  I 
call  it  very  nice  of  him  to  be  a  Conservative, 
and  then  he  won't  have  to  change  afterwards 
when  he  gets  high  up.  The  old  Earl  asked 
me  what  I  thought  of  it  all,  so  I  told  him ; 
and  he  said  that  it  was  a  great  pity  they 
could  not  have  me  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and 
then  things  would  be  arranged  on  a  really 
simple  and  satisfactory  basis. 

After  breakfast  this  morning  most  of  the 
new  people  went,  and  the  Duke  and  the 
pepper-and-salts;  Lady  Carriston  drove 
Lady  Garnons  over  to  see  her  Idiot  Asylum. 
They  were  to  lunch  near  there,  so  we  had 
our  food  in  peace  without  them,  and  you 
260 


CARRISTON      TOWERS 

would  not  believe  the  difference  there  was  !  ^  Good 
Everyone  woke  up:  Old  Sir  Samuel  Garnons,  ^^^^^^^^«^ 
who  had  not  spoken  once  that  I  heard  since 
I  came,  joked  with  Fraulein  Schlarbaum. 
Charlie  had  two  brandies-and-sodas  instead 
of  his  usual  glass  of  milk,  and  Adeline  and 
Miss  Garnons  were  able  to  gaze  at  their 
anchor  without  fear. 

This  afternoon  I  have  been  for  a  ride 
with  Charlie,  and  do  you  know.  Mamma, 
I  believe  he  is  trying  to  make  love  to  me, 
but  it  is  all  in  such  horrid  slang  that  I  am 
not  quite  sure.  I  must  stop  now.  —  With 
love,  from  your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

P.  6*.  —  Sunday.  I  missed  the  post  last 
night.  We  did  spend  a  boring  evening 
doing  nothing,  not  even  dummy  whist,  like 
at  Aunt  Maria's,  and  I  was  so  tired  hearing 
the  two  old  ladies  talking  over  the  idiots  they 
had  seen  at  the  Asylum,  that  I  was  thankful 
when  half-past  ten  came.  As  for  to-day,  I 
am  glad  it  is  the  last  one  I  shall  spend  here. 
There  is  a  settled  gloom  over  everything, 
a  sort  of  Sunday  feeling  that  makes  one  eat 
261 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

A  Good  too  much  lunch.  Mr.  Trench  had  been 
Protestant  allowed  to  conduct  the  service  in  the  chapel 
this  morning,  and  Lady  Carriston  kept  tap- 
ping her  foot  all  the  time  with  annoyance 
at  all  his  little  tricks,  and  once  or  twice, 
when  he  was  extra  go-ahead,  I  heard  her 
murmuring  to  herself  "  Ridiculous  !  "  and 
"  Scandalous !  "  What  will  she  do  when  he 
is  her  son-in-law? 

Adeline  and  Miss  Garnons  knelt  whenever 
they  could,  and  as  long  as  they  could,  and 
took  off  their  gloves  and  folded  their  hands. 
I  think  Adeline  hates  Miss  Garnons,  because 
she  is  allowed  to  cross  herself;  and  of  course 
Adeline  dare  n't,  with  her  mother  there. 

After  tea  Charlie  managed  to  get  up  quite 
close  to  me  in  a  corner,  and  he  said  in  a 
low  voice  that  I  was  '^  a  stunner,"  and  that 
if  I  would  just  "  give  him  the  tip,*'  he  *d 
"  chuck  Cora  to-morrow ;  "  that  I  "  could 
give  her  fits ! "  And  if  that  is  an  English 
proposal.  Mamma,  I  would  much  rather  have 
the  Vicomte's  or  the  Marquis's. 

We  are  coming  by  the  evening  train  to- 
morrow ;  so  till  then  good-bye. — Your  affec- 
tionate daughter,  Elizabeth. 
262 


Chevenix    Castle 


CHEVENIX    CASTLE 


D 


Chevenix  Castle, 

8th  November, 

EAREST  MAMMA,  — I  am  sure  Chevenix 
I    shall    enjoy  myself  here.     The  ^^'^^' 


train  was  so  late,  and  only  two 
other  people  were  coming  by  it  besides  me, 
so  we  all  drove  up  in  the  omnibus  together. 
One  was  a  man,  and  the  other  a  woman,  and 
she  glared  at  me,  and  fussed  her  maid  so 
about  her  dressing-bag,  and  it  was  such  a 
gorgeous  affair,  and  they  had  such  quantities 
of  luggage,  and  the  only  thing  they  said  on 
the  drive  up  was  how  cold  it  was,  and 
they  wondered  when  we  should  get  there. 
And  when  we  did  arrive,  there  was  only 
just  time  to  rush  up  and  dress  for  dinner ; 
all  the  other  people  had  come  by  an  earlier 
train.  I  left  them  both  in  the  care  of 
the  groom  of  the  chambers,  as  even  Cousin 
265 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Chevenix  Octavia  had    gone  upstairs,  and    there  was 

Castle       j^Q^  ^  gQ^j  about,  but  she  had  left  a  message 

for  me ;  and  while  Agnes  was  clawing   the 

things  out  of  the    trunks,   I   went   to    her 

room. 

She  was  just  having  her  hair  done,  but 
she  did  not  mind  a  bit,  and  was  awfully 
glad  to  see  me.  She  is  a  dear.  Her  hair 
is  as  dark  as  anything  underneath,  but  all 
the  outside  is  a  bright  red.  She  says  it  is 
much  more  attractive  like  that,  but  it 
does  look  odd  before  the  front  thing  is 
on,  and  that  is  a  fuzzy  bit  in  a  net,  like 
what  Royalties  have.  And  then  she  has 
lots  of  twist-things  round  at  the  back, 
and  although  it  does  n't  look  at  all  bad 
when  the  diamond  stick-ups  are  in  and 
she  is  all  arranged.  She  went  on  talking 
all  the  time  while  her  maid  was  fixing  it, 
just  as  if  we  were  alone  in  the  room.  She 
told  me  I  had  grown  six  inches  since  she 
was  with  us  at  Arcachon  three  years  ago, 
and  that  I  was  quite  good-looking.  She 
said  they  had  a  huge  party  for  the  balls, 
some  rather  nice  people,  and  Lady  Doraine 
and  one  or  two  others  she  hated.  I  said 
266 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

why  did  she  have  people  she  hated  —  that  The  Test 
I    would    not   if  I    were    a   Countess   like  ^  ^      '^~ 
her ;  so  she  said  those  were  often  the  very 
ones  one  was  obliged  to  have,  because  the 
nice  men  would  n't  come  without  them. 

She  hoped  I  had  some  decent  clothes,  as 
she  had  got  a  tame  millionaire  for  me. 
So  I  said  if  it  was  Mr.  Wertz  she  need 
not  bother  because  I  knew  him ;  and,  be- 
sides, I  only  intended  to  marry  a  gentleman, 
unless,  of  course,  I  should  get  past  twenty 
and  passe,  and  then,  goodness  knows  what 
I  might  take.  She  laughed,  and  said  it 
was  ridiculous  to  be  so  particular,  but 
that  anyway  that  would  be  no  difficulty, 
as  every  one  was  a  gentleman  now  who 
paid  for  things. 

Then  she  sent  me  off  to  dress,  just  as 
she  began  to  put  some  red  stuff  on  her 
lips.  It  is  wonderful  how  nice  she  looks 
when  everything  is  done,  even  though  she 
has  quite  a  different  coloured  chest  to  the 
top  bit  that  shows  above  her  pearl  collar, 
which  is  brickish-red  from  hunting.  So  is 
her  face,  but  she  is  such  a  dear  that  one 
admires  even  her  great  big  nose  and  little 
267 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Test  black  eyes,  which  one  would  think  hideous 
of  a  Gen-  -^^  other  people.  I  met  Tom  just  going 
into  her  room  as  I  came  out ;  he  said  he 
had  come  to  borrow  some  scent  from  her. 
He  looks  younger  than  she  does,  but  they 
were  the  same  age  when  they  got  married, 
were  n't  they  ? 

He  kissed  me  and  said  I  was  a  dear 
little  cousin,  and  had  I  been  boxing  any 
one's  ears  lately.  Before  I  could  box  his 
for  talking  so,  Octavia  called  out  to  him 
to  let  me  go,  or  I  should  be  late,  and  had 
I  not  to  scurry  just  ?  Agnes  fortunately 
had  everything  ready,  but  I  fussed  so  that 
my  face  was  crimson  when  I  got  down- 
stairs, and  every  one  was  already  there. 

There  seemed  to  be  dozens  of  people. 
You  will  see  in  the  list  in  the  Morning 
Post  to-morrow  what  a  number  of  the 
Nazeby  set  there  are  here. 

Lord  Valmond  is  here,  but  he  did  not 
see  me  until  we  were  at  dinner.  I  went 
in  with  Mr.  Hodgkinson,  who  is  contest- 
ing this  Division;  he  is  quite  young  and 
wears  an  eyeglass,  which  he  keeps  dropping. 
He  really  looks  silly,  but  they  say  he  says 
268 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

some  clever  things  if  you  give  him   time.  The 
and  that  he   will  be  a  great  acquisition  to  d^^^  ^ 
the  party  he  has  joined  now,  as  it  is  much 
easier  to  get  made  a  peer  by  the  Radicals  ; 
and    that  is   what  he  wants,   as    his    father 
made  a  huge  fortune  in  bones  and  glue. 

He  did  not  talk  to  me  at  all,  but  eat 
his  dinner  at  first,  and  then  said :  "  I 
don't  believe  in  talking  before  the  fish, 
do  you  ?  " 

So  I  said:  "No,  nor  till  after  the  ices, 
unless  one  has  something  to  say/* 

He  was  so  surprised  that  his  eyeglass 
dropped,  and  he  had  to  fumble  to  find  it, 
so  by  that  time  I  had  begun  to  talk  to  old 
Colonel  Blake,  who  was  at  the  other  side 
of  me. 

Lady  Doraine  was  looking  so  pretty ; 
her  hair  has  grown  much  fairer  and  nicer 
than  it  was  at  Nazeby.  Lord  Doraine  is 
here  too ;  his  eyes  are  so  close  together ! 
He  plays  a  game  called  "  Bridge "  with 
Mr.  Wertz  and  Mr.  Hodgkinson  and  Tom 
all  the  time  —  I  mean  in  the  afternoon  be- 
fore dinner  —  so  Mr.  Hodgkinson  told  me 
when  we  got  to  dessert.  I  suppose  it  was 
269 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  the    first   thing    he    had  found   to    say !     I 

frog ;  because  don't  you  remember  we 
called  it  "  Bridge  "  when  you  had  to  jump 
two  ?  He  said  No  ;  that  it  was  a  game 
of  cards,  and  much  more  profitable  if  one 
had  the  luck  of  Lord  Doraine,  who  had 
won  heaps  of  money  from  Mr.  Wertz. 
Afterwards,  in  the  drawing-room.  Lady 
Doraine  came  up  to  me  and  asked  me 
where  I  had  been  hiding  since  the  Nazeby 
visit,  and  when  she  heard  I  had  been  in 
France,  she  talked  a  lot  about  the  fashions. 
She  has  such  a  splendid  new  rope  of  pearls, 
and  such  lovely  clothes.  The  Rooses  are 
here  too,  and  Jane  has  a  cold  in  her  head. 
,  She  says  she  heard  by  this  evening's  post 
that  Miss  La  Touche  is  going  to  be  mar- 
ried to  old  Lord  Kidminster,  and  that  he 
is  "  too  deaf  to  have  heard  everything,  so 
it  is  just  as  well."  I  can't  see  why,  as  Miss 
La  Touche  is  so  nice,  and  never  talks 
rubbish ;  so  I  think  it  a  pity  he  can't  hear 
all  she  says,  don't  you  ? 

Lady   Doraine  calls   Octavia  "  darling  !  " 
She  stood  fiddling  with  her  diamond  chain 
270 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 


and  purring  over  her  frock,  so  I   suppose  An  Eng 

-    -  Ushma"' 

Views 


she  is  fond  of  her  in  spite  of  Octavia  hating  ^^^^^^«'-^ 


her. 

After  dinner  Lord  Valmond  came  up 
to  me  at  once.  I  felt  in  such  a  good 
temper,  it  was  hard  to  be  very  stiff,  he 
seemed  so  awfully  glad  to  see  me.  He 
said  I  might  have  let  him  know  what  day 
it  was  that  I  crossed  over  to  France  after 
leaving  Hazeldene  Court — he  would  have 
taken  such  care  of  me.  I  said  I  was  quite 
able  to  take  care  of  myself.  Then  he  asked 
me  if  the  people  were  nice  in  France?  and 
when  I  said  perfectly  charming,  he  said 
some  Frenchwomen  were  n't  bad  but  the 
men  were  monkeys.  I  said  it  showed  how 
little  he  knew  about  them,  I  had  found 
them  delightful,  always  polite  and  respect- 
ful and  amusing,  quite  a  contrast  to  some 
English  people  one  was  obliged  to  meet. 

His  eyes  blazed  like  two  bits  of  blue  fire, 
and  when  he  looked  like  that,  it  made  my 
heart  beat.  Mamma,  I  don't  know  why. 
He  is  so  nice-looking,  of  course  no 
Frenchman  could  compare  to  him,  but  I 
was  obliged  to  go  on  praising  them  because 
271 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

An  Eng-  it  annoyed  him  so.  He  said  I  must  have 
lishman  s  stayed  there  ages,  he  had  been  wondering 
and  wondering  when  he  was  to  see  me 
again.  He  said  Mr.  Hodgkinson  was  an 
ass,  and  he  had  been  watching  us  at  dinner. 
Then  Lord  Doraine  came  up  and  Lady 
Doraine  introduced  him  to  me,  and  he 
said  a  number  of  nice  things,  and  he  has 
a  charming  voice ;  and  Mr.  Wertz  came 
up  too,  and  spoke  to  me  ;  and  then  Lady 
Doraine  called  Lord  Valmond  to  come 
and  sit  on  the  little  sofa  by  her,  and  she 
looked  at  him  so  fondly  that  I  thought 
perhaps  Lord  Doraine  might  not  like  it. 
He  tried  not  to  see,  but  Mr.  Wertz  did^ 
and  I  think  he  must  have  a  kind  heart, 
because  he  fidgeted  so,  and  almost  at  once 
went  and  joined  them  to  break  up  the 
tete-a-tete,  so  that  Lord  Doraine  might 
not  be  teased  any  more,  I  suppose.  And 
every  one  went  to  bed  rather  early,  because 
of  the  ball  and  shoot  to-morrow,  and  I 
must  jump  in  too,  as  I  am  sleepy,  so  good- 
night, dearest  Mamma. — Your  affectionate 
daughter,  Elizabeth. 


272 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 


Chevenix  Castle, 

gth  November, 

Dearest    Mamma,  —  Such  a  lot  to  tell  The 
you,  and  no  time,  as  I  must  go  down  to  tea.  {^^T"U 

TXT  J  1_  1  •  .  r  ^^^  ^^^^ 

We  passed  rather  a  bonng  mornmg  after 
the  men  had  started  for  their  shoot.  Only 
a  few  people  were  down  for  breakfast,  and 
none  of  the  men  who  were  n't  guns.  I  sup- 
pose they  were  asleep.  But  Lady  Grace 
Fenton  was  as  cross  as  a  bear  because  she 
wanted  to  go  and  shoot  too.  She  is  just 
like  a  man,  and  does  look  so  odd  and  almost 
improper  in  the  evening  in  female  dress. 
And  Tom  won't  have  women  out  shoot- 
ing, except  for  lunch.  Lady  Doraine  and 
Lady  Greswold  talked  by  the  fire  while  they 
smoked,  and  Lady  Greswold  said  she  really 
did  not  know  where  the  peers  were  to  turn 
to  now  to  make  an  honest  penny,  their  names 
being  no  more  good  in  the  City,  and  that  it 
was  abominably  hard  that  now,  she  had  heard, 
they  would  have  to  understand  business  and 
work  just  like  ordinary  Stock  Exchange 
people  if  they  wanted  to  get  on,  and  she  did 
not  know  what  things  were  coming  to. 

i8  273 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  At  lunch,  in   the  chalet  in  the  wood,  it 

o   r^      was  rather  fun.    Mr.  Hodgkinson  and  Lord 

Sad  Case  ^       .  •  ,  •  j        r  t        i 

Doraine   sat   on  either  side  or  me.     Lord 

Valmond  came  up  with  the  last  guns,  rather 

late,   and    he    looked    round  the  table  and 

frowned.       He    seems    quite   grumpy  now, 

not   half  so   good-tempered  as  he  used  to 

be.     I  expect  it  is  because  Mrs.  Smith  is  n't 

here. 

Mr.  Wertz  was  so  beautifully  turned 
out  in  the  newest  clothes  and  the  loveliest 
stockings,  and  he  had  two  loaders  and 
three  guns,  and  Lord  Doraine  told  me 
that  he  had  killed  three  pheasants,  but  the 
ground  was  knee-deep  in  cartridges  round 
him,  and  Tom  was  furious,  as  he  likes 
an  enormous  bag.  So  I  asked  why,  if  Mr. 
Wertz  was  not  a  sportsman,  had  he  taken  the 
huge  Quickham  shoot  in  Norfolk  ?  Then 
Mr.  Hodgkinson  chimed  in :  "  Oh  !  to  en- 
tertain Royalty  and  the  husbands  of  his 
charming  lady  friends ! "  and  he  fixed  his 
eyeglass  and  looked  round  the  corner  of  it 
at  Lord  Doraine,  who  drank  a  glass  of  peach 
brandy. 

After  lunch  the  men  had  to  start  quickly, 
274 


aires 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

as  we  had  dawdled  so,  and  so  we  turned  to  The 
go  back  to  the  house.  ^'^^'''" 

Octavia  put  her  arm  through  mine,  and 
we  were  walking  on,  when  Lady  Doraine 
joined  us,  with  the  woman  who  had  glared 
at  me  in  the  omnibus.  She  looked  as  if 
she  hated  walking.  She  is  not  actually 
stout,  but  everything  is  as  tight  as  possible, 
and  it  does  make  her  puff.  She  was  awfully 
smart,  and  had  the  thinnest  boots  on.  Lady 
Doraine  was  being  so  lovely  to  her,  and 
Octavia  was  in  one  of  her  moods  when  she 
talks  over  people's  heads,  so  we  had  not 
a  very  pleasant  walk,  until  we  came  to  the 
stable  gate,  when  Octavia  and  I  went  that 
way  to  see  her  new  hunters.  We  had  hardly 
got  out  of  hearing  when  she  said  — 

"  Really,  Elizabeth,  how  I  dislike  women ! " 

So  I  asked  her  who  the  puffing  lady  was, 
and  she  said  a  Mrs.  Pike,  the  new  Colonial 
millionairess. 

"  Horrid  creature,  as  unnecessary  as  can 
be!" 

So  I  asked  her  why  she  had  invited  her, 
then.     And  she  said  her  sister-in-law.  Carry, 
had  got  round  Tom  and  made  a  point  of  it, 
275 


aires 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  as    she  was  running  them,  and  now  Carry 

^2  '  had  got  the  measles  and  could  not  come  to 
look  after  the  creature  herself;  and  it  would 
serve  her  right  if  Folly  Doraine  took  them 
out  of  her  hands.  And  so  you  see.  Mamma, 
everything  has  changed  from  your  days, 
because  this  is  n*t  a  person  you  would  dream 
of  knowing.  I  don't  quite  understand  what 
"  running  them  "  means,  and  as  Octavia  was 
*  a  little  out  of  temper,  I  did  not  like  to  ask 
her ;  but  Jane  Roose  is  sure  to  know,  so  I 
will  find  out  and  tell  you. 

I  went  and  played  with  the  children  when 
we  got  in.  They  are  such  ducks,  and  we 
had  a  splendid  romp.  Little  Tom  is  enor- 
mous for  ^YG^,  and  so  clever,  and  Gwynnie 
is  the  image  of  Octavia  when  her  hair  was 
dark.     Now  I  must  go  down  to  tea. 

7.30.  —  I  was  so  late.  Every  one  was 
there  when  I  got  down  in  such  gorgeous 
tea-gowns ;  I  wore  my  white  mousseline 
delaine  frock.  The  Rooses  have  the  look 
of  using  out  their  summer  best  dresses. 
Jane's  cold  is  worse.  The  guns  had  got 
back,  and  came  straggling  in  one  by  one, 
as  they  dressed,  quickly  or  slowly ;  and 
276 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

Lord  Doraine  had  such  a  lovely  velvet  suit  Teaching 
on,  and  he  said  such  nice  things  to  me ;  ^^^^^^^^ 
and  Lord  Valmond  sat  at  the  other  side, 
and  seemed  more  ill-tempered  than  ever.  I 
can't  think  what  is  the  matter  with  him. 
At  last  he  asked  me  to  play  Patience  with 
him  ;  so  I  said  that  was  a  game  one  played 
by  oneself,  and  he  said  he  knew  quite  a  new 
one  which  he  was  sure  I  would  like  to  learn  ; 
but  I  did  not  particularly  want  to  just  then. 
Lady  Doraine  was  showing  Mr.  Wertz  her 
new  one  at  the  other  side  of  the  hall.  There 
are  some  cosy  little  tables  arranged  for  play- 
ing cards,  with  nice  screens  near,  so  that  the 
other  people's  counting,  &c.,  may  not  put 
one  out. 

Mrs.  Pike  was  too  splendid  for  words, 
in  petunia  satin,  and  sable,  and  quantities 
of  pearl  chains ;  and  Tom  was  trying  to 
talk  to  her.  Nobody  worries  about  Mr. 
Pike  much  ;  but  Lord  Doraine  took  him 
off  to  the  billiard-room,  after  collecting  Mr. 
Wertz,  to  play  "  Bridge  "  —  everybody  plays 
"  Bridge,"  I  find  —  and  then  Lady  Doraine 
came  and  joined  Lord  Valmond  and  me 
on  the  big  sofa. 

^77 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Teaching  Lord  Valmond  hardly  spoke  after  that. 
Patience  ^^^  ^^^  teased  him  and  said :  "  Harry, 
what  a  child  you  are  ! "  and  she  looked  as 
sweetly  malicious  as  the  tortoise-shell  cat 
at  home  does  when  it  is  going  to  scratch 
while  it  is  purring.  And  presently  Dolly 
Tenterdown  came  over  to  us  (he  is  in 
Cousin  Jack's  battalion  of  the  Coldstreams, 
and  he  looks  about  fifteen,  but  he  behaves 
very  "  grown  up "),  and  he  asked  Lady 
Doraine  to  come  and  teach  him  her  new 
"  Patience  " ;  and  they  went  to  one  of  the 
screen  tables,  and  Lord  Valmond  said  he 
was  a  charming  fellow,  but  I  thought  he 
looked  silly,  and  I  do  wonder  what  she 
found  to  say  to  him.  She  must  be  quite 
ttn  years  older  than  he  is,  and  Jane  Roose 
says  it  is  an  awful  sign  of  age  when  people 
play  with  boys. 

Lord  Valmond  asked  me  to  keep  him 
some  dances  to-night,  but  I  said  I  really 
did  not  know  what  I  should  do  until  it 
began,  as  I  had  never  been  at  a  ball  be- 
fore. I  have  n't  forgiven  him  a  bit,  so  he 
need  not  think  I  have.  Now  I  must  stop. 
Oh  !  I  am  longing  to  put  on  my  white 
278 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

tulle,  and  I  do  feel  excited.  —  Your  affec-  ^ 
tionate  daughter  ^'f'"''' 

Elizabeth.      ^'^^"^'"^ 

F,S,  —  I  asked  Jane  Roose  what  "  run- 
ning them  "  means,  and  it 's  being  put  on 
to  things  in  the  City,  and  having  all  your 
bills  paid  if  you  introduce  them  to  people  ; 
only  you  sometimes  have  to  write  their 
letters  for  them  to  prevent  them  putting 
the  whole  grand  address,  &c.,  that  is  in  the 
Peerage ;  and  she  says  it  is  quite  a  pro- 
fession now,  and  done  by  the  best  people, 
which  of  course  must  be  true,  as  Carry  is 
Tom's  sister.  E. 


Chevenix  Castle, 

lOth  November, 

Dearest  Mamma,  —  Oh  !  it  was  too,  too 
lovely,  last  night.  I  am  having  my  break- 
fast in  bed  to-day,  just  like  the  other 
grown-up  people,  and  it  really  feels  so 
grand  to  be  writing  to  you  between  sips 
of  tea  and  nibbles  of  toast  and  strawberry 
279 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  jam !     Well,    to   tell    you    about   the    ball. 

Modern     Yw^t   my  white  tulle   was    a    dream.     Oc- 
Industry  .  .\    ,  i        r        i  •  1-1 

tavia  said  it  was  by  far  the  prettiest  debu- 
tante frock  she  had  ever  seen  ;  and  when  I 
was  dressed  she  sent  for  me  to  her  room, 
and  Tom  was  there  too,  and  she  took  out 
of  a  duck  of  a  white  satin  case  a  lovely 
string  of  pearls  and  put  it  round  my  throat, 
and  said  it  was  their  present  to  me  for  my 
first  ball  !  Was  n*t  it  angelic  of  them  ?  I 
hugged  and  kissed  them  both,  and  almost 
squashed  Tom's  buttonhole  into  his  pink 
coat,  I  was  so  pleased,  but  he  said  he  did  n't 
mind ;  and  then  we  all  went  down  to- 
gether, and  no  one  else  was  ready,  so  we 
looked  through  the  rooms.  The  dancing, 
of  course,  was  to  be  in  the  picture  gallery, 
and  the  flowers  were  so  splendid  every- 
where, and  Octavia  was  quite  satisfied.  It 
is  a  mercy  it  is  such  a  big  house,  for  we 
were  n't  put  out  a  bit  beforehand  by  the 
preparations. 

I    don't    know    if    you    were   ever   like 
that.  Mamma,  but  I  felt  as  if  I  must  jump 
about  and  sing,  and  my  cheeks  were  burn- 
ing.    Octavia  sat  down  and  played  a  valse, 
280 


ness 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

and  Tom  and  I  opened  the  ball  by  our-  Forghe- 
selves  in  the  empty  room,  and  it  ivas  fun, 
and  then  we  saw  Lord  Valmond  peeping 
in  at  the  door,  and  he  came  up  and  said 
Tom  was  not  to  be  greedy,  and  so  I  danced 
the  two  last  rounds  with  him,  and  he  had 
such  a  strange  look  in  his  eyes,  a  little 
bit  like  Jean  when  he  had  the  fit,  and  he 
never  said  one  word  until  we  stopped. 

Then  Octavia  went  out  of  the  other 
door,  and  I  don't  know  where  Tom  went, 
but  we  were  alone,  and  so  he  said,  would 
I  forgive  him  for  everything  and  be  friends, 
that  he  had  never  been  so  sorry  for  anything 
in  his  life  as  having  offended  me.  He 
really  seemed  so  penitent,  and  he  does 
dance  so  beautifully,  and  he  is  so  tall  and 
nice  in  his  pink  coat;  and,  besides,  I  re- 
membered his  dinner  with  Aunt  Maria, 
and  how  nasty  I  had  been  to  him  at  Hazel- 
dene  !  So  I  said,  all  right  I  would  try,  if 
he  would  promise  never  to  be  horrid  again ; 
and  he  said  he  would  n't ;  and  then  we 
shook  hands,  and  he  said  I  looked  lovely, 
and  that  my  frock  was  perfect ;  and  then 
Tom  came  back  and  we  went  into  the 
281 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Forgive-    hall,    and  everybody    was  down,  and  they 
"^^^  had   drawn  for  partners  to  go  in  to  dinner 

while  we  were  in  the  ball-room.  Tom  had 
made  Octavia  arrange  that  we  should  draw, 
as  he  said  he  could  not  stand  Lady  Gres- 
wold  two  nights  running.  Octavia  said 
she  had  drawn  for  Lord  Valmond  because 
he  was  n't  there,  and  that  his  slip  of  paper 
was  mey  and  he  said  on  our  way  Into  the 
dining-room  that  Octavia  was  a  brick.  We 
had  such  fun  at  dinner.  Now  that  I  have 
forgiven  him,  and  have  not  to  be  thinking 
all  the  time  of  how  nasty  I  can  be,  we 
get  on  splendidly. 

Mr.  Wertz  was  at  the  other  side  of  me 
with  Mrs.  Pike ;  but  as  he  is  n't  "  running  '* 
them  he  had  not  to  bother  to  talk  to  her, 
and  he  is  really  very  intelligent,  and  we 
three  had  such  an  amusing  time.  Lord 
Valmond  was  in  a  lovely  temper.  Jane 
Roose  said  afterwards  in  the  drawing-room 
that  It  was  because  Mrs.  Smith  was  com- 
ing with  the  Courceys  to  the  ball.  Lady 
Doraine  had  drawn  Mr.  Pike,  who  is 
melancholy-looking,  with  a  long  Jew  nose ; 
but  she  woke  him  up  and  got  him  quite 
282 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

animated  by  dessert,  and  Mrs.  Pike  did  The  Ball 
not  like  it  one  bit.  I  overheard  her  speak- 
ing to  him  about  it  afterwards,  and  he 
said  so  roughly,  "  You  mind  your  own 
climbing,  Mary ;  you  ought  to  be  glad  as 
it 's  a  titled  lady  ! "  Well,  then,  by  the 
time  we  were  all  assembled  in  the  hall, 
every  one  began  to  arrive.  Oh,  it  was  so, 
so  lovely  I  Every  one  looked  at  me  as  I 
stood  beside  Octavia  at  first,  because  they 
all  knew  the  ball  was  given  for  me,  and 
then  for  the  first  dance  I  danced  with  Tom, 
and  after  that  I  had  heaps  of  partners,  and 
I  can't  tell  you  about  each  dance,  but  it 
was  all  heavenly.  I  tried  to  remember 
what  you  said  and  not  dance  more  than 
three  times  with  the  same  person ;  but, 
somehow.  Lord  Valmond  got  four,  and 
another  —  but  that  was  an  extra. 

Mrs.  Smith  did  come  with  the  Courceys, 
and  she  was  looking  so  smart  with  a  beau- 
tiful gown  on,  and  Jane  Roose  said  it  was 
a  mercy  Valmond  was  so  rich ;  but  I  don't 
see  what  that  had  to  do  with  it.  I  saw 
him  dancing  with  her  once,  but  he  looked 
as  cross  as  two  sticks,  perhaps  because  she 
283 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Ball  was  rather  late.  Do  you  know.  Mamma, 
a  lot  of  the  beauties  we  are  always  reading 
about  in  the  papers  as  having  walked  in 
the  Park  looking  perfectly  lovely  were  there, 
and  some  of  them  are  quite,  quite  old — 
much  older  than  you  —  and  all  trimmed 
up !  Are  n't  you  astonished  ?  And  one 
has  a  grown-up  son  and  daughter,  and  she 
danced  all  the  time  with  Dolly  Tenter- 
down,  who  was  her  son's  fag  at  Eton, 
Lord  Doraine  told  me.  Is  n't  it  odd  ?  And 
another  was  the  lady  that  Sir  Charles  Helms- 
ford  was  with  on  the  promenade  at  Nice, 
when  you  would  not  let  me  bow  to  him, 
do  you  remember?  And  she  is  as  old  as 
the  other ! 

Lord  Doraine  was  rather  a  bother,  he 
wanted  to  dance  with  me  so  often ;  so  at 
last  I  said  to  Octavia  I  really  was  not  at 
my  first  ball  to  dance  with  old  men  (he  is 
quite  forty),  and  what  was  I  to  do  ?  And 
she  was  so  cross  with  him,  and  I  could  see 
her  talking  to  him  about  it  when  she  danced 
with  him  herself  next  dance ;  and  after  that 
till  supper  he  disappeared  — into  the  smoking- 
room,  I  suppose,  to  play  "  Bridge." 
Z84 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

I  went  in  to  supper  first  with  the  Duke  At 
of  Meath  —  he  had  just  finished  taking  in  *^"^^^ 
Octavia  —  he  is  such  a  nice  boy  ;  and  then, 
as  we  were  coming  out,  we  went  down  a 
corridor,  and  there  in  a  window-seat  were 
Lord  Valmond  and  Mrs.  Smith,  and  he 
was  still  gloomy,  and  she  had  the  same 
green-rhubarb-juice  look  she  had  the  last 
night  at  Nazeby.  He  jumped  up  at  once> 
and  said  to  me  he  hoped  I  had  not  for- 
gotten I  had  promised  to  go  in  to  supper 
with  him,  so  I  said  I  had  just  come  from 
supper ;  and  while  we  were  speaking  Mrs. 
Smith  had  got  the  Duke  to  sit  down  be- 
side her,  and  so  I  had  to  go  off  with 
Lord  Valmond,  and  he  seemed  so  odd  and 
nervous,  and  as  if  he  were  apologising  about 
something;  but  I  don't  know  what  it 
could  have  been,  as  he  had  not  asked  me 
before  to  go  in  to  supper  with  him. 

He  seemed  to  cheer  up  presently,  and  per- 
suaded me  to  go  back  into  the  supper-room, 
as  he  said  he  was  so  hungry,  and  we  found 
a  dear  little  table,  with  big  flower  things 
on  it,  in  a  corner ;  but  when  we  got  there 
he  only  played  with  an  ortolan  and  drank 
285 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

End  of  some  champagne,  but  he  did  take  such  a 
the  Ball  ^j^jjg  about  it ;  and  each  time  I  said  I  was 
sure  the  next  dance  was  beginning  he  said 
he  was  still  hungry.  I  have  never  seen 
any  one  have  so  much  on  his  plate  and 
eat  so  little.  At  last  I  insisted  on  going 
back,  and  when  we  got  to  the  ball-room 
an  extra  was  on,  and  he  said  I  had 
promised  him  that,  but  I  had  n't.  How- 
ever, we  danced,  and  after  that,  having  been 
so  long  away  at  supper,  and  one  thing  and 
another,  my  engagements  seemed  to  get 
mixed,  and  I  danced  with  all  sorts  of 
people  I  hadn't  promised  to  in  the  begin- 
ning. At  last  it  came  to  an  end,  and 
when  the  last  carriage  had  driven  away,  we 
all  went  and  had  another  hot  supper. 

Mr.  Pike  would  sit  next  to  Lady  Dor- 
aine,  and  he  was  as  gay  as  a  blackbird,  and 
I  heard  Octavia  saying  to  Lady  Greswold 
that  Carry  had  better  hurry  up  and  get 
that  house  in  Park  Street,  or  Lady  Doraine 
would  have  it  instead.  Then  we  all  went 
to  bed,  and  Lord  Valmond  squeezed  my 
hand  and  looked  as  silly  as  anything,  and 
Jane  Roose,  who  saw,  said  I  had  better  be 
286 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

careful,  as  he  was  playing  me  off  against  Tableaux 
Mrs.  Smith.  It  was  great  impertinence 
of  her,  I  think  —  don't  you?  —  especially  as 
Mrs.  Smith  had  gone,  so  I  can't  see  the 
point.  —  Now  I  am  going  to  get  up.  Your 
affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 


Chevenix  Castle, 

ijth  November, 

Dearest  Mamma, —  I  enjoyed  myself  last 
night  quite  as  much  as  at  the  ball  here ;  but 
first,  I  must  tell  you  about  Thursday  and 
yesterday.  The  morning  after  the  ball  here 
no  one  came  down  till  lunch,  and  in  the 
afternoon  Lady  Doraine  suggested  we  should 
have  some  tableaux  in  the  evening,  and  so 
we  were  busy  all  the  time  arranging  them. 
They  were  all  bosh ;  but  it  was  so  amusing, 
Mrs.  Pike  lent  every  one  her  tea-gowns  — 
she  has  dozens — and  they  did  splendidly  for 
the  Queen  of  Sheba ;  and  Mr.  Pike  played 
Charles  L  having  his  head  cut  off,  as  Lady 
Doraine  told  him  he  had  just  the  type  of 
287 


T  HE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

A  Game    lofty    melancholy    face    for    that.       I     was 
°f  .  the  Old  Woman  in  the  Shoe,  with  all  the 

biggest  people  for  children ;  but  the  best  of 
all  was  Dolly  Tenderdown  as  "  Bubbles." 
Lord  Doraine  and  Mr.  Wertz  and  Tom 
and  some  others  played  "  Bridge  "  all  the 
time  while  we  were  arranging  them ;  but 
Lord  Valmond  was  most  useful,  and  in 
such  a  decent  temper.  After  they  were  over 
we  danced  a  little,  and  it  was  all  delightful. 

Yesterday,  the  day  of  the  county  ball  in 
Chevenix,  they  shot  again ;  and  it  rained 
just  as  we  all  came  down  ready  to  start  for 
the  lunch ;  so  we  could  n't  go,  and  had  to 
lunch  indoors  without  most  of  the  men.  Mr. 
Pike  had  n't  gone  shooting,  because  I  heard 
Tom  saying  the  night  before  to  Lady  Doraine 
that  he  wouldn't  chance  the  party  being 
murdered  again,  and  that  she  must  keep 
him  at  home  somehow.  So  she  did,  and 
taught  him  Patience  in  the  hall  after  lunch ; 
and  Mrs.  Pike  went  and  wanted  to  learn 
it  too,  but  Lady  Doraine  —  who  was  lovely 
to  her  —  somehow  did  not  make  much  room 
on  the  sofa,  so  she  had  to  go  and  sit  some- 
where else. 

288 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

Half  the  people  were  playing  "  Bridge/'  ^  Broad 
and  the  rest  were  very  comfortable,  and  ^^^ 
smoking  cigarettes,  of  course;  so  Mrs.  Pike 
did  too.  Her  case  is  gold,  with  a  splendid 
monogram  in  big  rubies  on  it ;  but  I  am  sure 
it  makes  her  feel  sick,  because  she  pufFs  it 
out  and  makes  it  burn  up  as  soon  as  she  can 
without  its  being  in  her  mouth.  She  had  to 
go  and  lie  down  after  that,  as  she  said  she 
would  be  too  tired  for  the  ball  ;  but  nobody 
paid  much  attention. 

It  was  more  lively  at  tea-time,  when  the 
guns  came  in.  And  Lord  Doraine  would  sit 
by  me ;  he  talked  about  poetry,  and  said 
dozens  of  nice  things  about  me,  and  all 
sorts  of  amusing  ones  about  every  one  else  ; 
and  Lord  Valmond,  who  had  gone  to  write 
some  letters  at  a  table  near,  seemed  so  put 
out  with  every  one  talking,  that  he  could 
not  keep  his  attention,  and  at  last  tore 
them  up,  and  came  and  sat  close  to  us, 
and  told  Lord  Doraine  that  he  could  see 
Mr.  Wertz  was  longing  for  "  Bridge."  And 
so  he  got  up,  and  laughed  in  such  a  way, 
and  said,  "  All  right,  Harry,  old  boy,'^  and 
Valmond  got  crimson  —  I  don't  know  what 
19  289 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  at  —  and    looked   as  cross   as  a  bear   for  a 

Duchess's  ^^^    minutes.     We    had    rather    a    hurried 
Ball 

dinner. 

My  white  chiffon  is  as  pretty  as  the  tulle, 
and  Octavia  was  quite  pleased  with  me. 
There  were  omnibuses  and  two  broughams 
for  us  to  go  in.  Octavia  took  me  with  her 
alone  in  one.  I  wanted  to  go  in  one  of  the 
omnibuses  —  it  looked  so  much  gayer — but 
she  would  n't  let  me.  It  is  not  much  of  a 
drive,  as  you  know,  and  we  all  got  there 
at  the  same  time  almost,  and  our  party 
did  look  so  smart  as  we  came  in. 
Octavia  sailed  like  a  queen  up  the  room 
to  a  carpeted  raised  place  at  the  end,  and 
there  held  a  sort  of  court. 

The  Duchess  of  Glamorgan  was  already 
there  with  her  three  daughters,  and  their 
teeth  stick  out  just  like  Mrs.  Vavaseur's ; 
only  they  look  ready  to  bite,  and  she  was 
always  smiling.  The  men  of  their  party 
were  so  young,  and  looked  as  if  they  would 
not  hurt  a  fly,  and  the  Duchess  had  me 
introduced  to  her  and  asked  about  you. 
And  Mrs.  Pike  tried  to  join  in  the  con- 
versation, and  the  Duchess  fixed  on  her 
290 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 

pince-nez  and  looked  at  her  for  quite  ten  The 
seconds,  and  then  said,  when  she  had  retired  ^^^J^^"  ^ 
a  little,  "  Who  is  this  gorgeous  person  ? " 
And  when  I  said  Mrs.  Pike,  she  said,  "  I 
don't  remember  the  name,"  in  a  tone  that 
dismissed  Mrs.  Pike  from  the  universe  as 
far  as  she  was  concerned  ;  and  Jane  Roose 
says  she  is  almost  the  only  Duchess  who 
won't  know  parvenueSy  and  that  is  what 
makes  her  set  so  dull. 

There  were  such  a  lot  of  funny  frumpy 
people  at  the  other  end  of  the  room  — "  the 
rabble,"  Mrs.  Pike  called  them.  "  Let  us 
walk  round  and  look  at  the  rabble,"  she 
said  to  Lord  Doraine,  who  was  standing  by 
her.     And  they  went. 

I  had  such  lots  of  partners  I  don't  know 
what  any  one  else  did ;  I  was  enjoying 
myself  so,  and  I  hope  you  won't  be  an- 
noyed with  me,  as  I  am  afraid  I  danced 
oftener  than  three  times  with  Lord  Val- 
mond.  Mrs.  Smith  seemed  to  be  with  the 
little  Duke  a  great  deal,  and  she  glared  at 
me  whenever  she  passed.  I  like  English 
balls  much  better  than  French,  though, 
perhaps,  I  can't  judge,  as  I  was  never  at  a 
291 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Ride  real  one  there.  But  Englishmen  are  so 
Home  much  better-looking,  and  everybody  does  n't 
get  so  hot,  and  it  is  nice  having  places  to 
sit  out  and  talk  without  feeling  you  are 
doing  something  wrong.  Coming  home, 
Octavia  made  Lady  Doraine  and  Mrs.  Pike 
go  in  her  brougham,  and  she  and  I  went 
in  one  of  the  omnibuses.  Lord  Doraine 
sat  between  me  and  Octavia,  and  I  suppose 
he  was  afraid  of  crushing  her  dress,  for  he 
positively  squashed  me,  he  sat  so  close. 
Lord  Valmond  was  at  the  other  side  of 
me,  and  somebody  must  have  been  push- 
ing him,  because  he  sat  even  nearer  me 
than  Lord  Doraine,  and  between  them  I 
could  hardly  breathe ;  it  was  fortunate  it 
was  a  cold  night. 

Before  we  got  to  the  Park  gates 
somehow  the  light  went  out,  and  all 
the  way  up  the  avenue  people  held  each 
of  my  hands.  I  could  not  see  who 
they  were,  and  I  tried  to  get  them  away, 
but  I  could  n*t,  and  I  was  afraid  to  kick 
like  I  did  to  Charlie  Carriston,  as  it  might 
have  been  Mr.  Hodgkinson  who  was  sitting 
opposite,  and  so  there  would  have  been  no 
292 


CHEVENIX      CASTLE 


good   in   kicking    Lord    Doraine,    or   Lord  ^« 

Situation 


Valmond  ;  but  I  just   made  my  fingers   as  'i'^^'^^^^ 


stiff  as  iron  and  left  them  alone.  It  is  a 
surprise  to  me.  Mamma,  to  find  that  gentle- 
men in  England  behave  like  this,  I  call  it 
awfully  disappointing,  and  I  am  sure  they 
could  not  have  done  so  when  you  were 
young,  it  seems  they  are  just  as  bad  as 
the  French.  I  told  Octavia  about  it  when 
she  came  to  tuck  me  up  in  bed;  and  she 
only  went  into  a  fit  of  laughter,  and  when 
I  was  offended,  she  said  she  would  see 
that  the  next  time  I  went  to  a  ball  with 
her,  that  I  had  a  chaperon  on  each  side 
coming  home. 

I  bowed  as  stiffly  as  I  could  in  saying 
good-night  to  Lord  Doraine  and  Lord 
Valmond,  and  they  both  looked  so  aston- 
ished, that  perhaps  it  was  Mr.  Hodgkinson 
after  all ;  it  is  awkward  not  knowing,  is  n't 
it  ?  This  morning  all  the  guests  are  going, 
and  on  Monday,  as  you  know,  Tom  and 
Octavia  take  me  with  them  to  stay  at 
Foljambe  Place,  with  the  Murray-Hartleys 
for  the  Grassfield  Hunt  Ball.  It  will  be 
fun,  I  hope,  but  I  can  never  enjoy  my- 
293 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  self  more  than  I  have  done  here.  —  Now, 

Murray-  good-bve,  dear    Mamma,    your   affectionate 
Hartleys    °        ,  t7 

•^     daughter,  Elizabeth. 

P,S,  —  Octavia  says  the  Murray-Hartleys 
aren't  people  you  would  know,  but  one 
must  go  with  the  times,  and  she  will  take 
care  of  me.  E. 


294 


Foljambe    Place 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


FoLjAMBE  Place, 

l^th  November. 

DEAREST  MAMMA,  — We  ^r-  The  Coat 
rived  here  this  afternoon  in  time  ^  ^^^ 
for  tea.  It  is  a  splendid  place, 
and  everything  has  been  done  up  for  them 
by  that  man  who  chooses  things  for  people 
when  they  don't  know  how  themselves. 
He  is  here  now,  and  he  is  quite  a  gentleman, 
and  has  his  food  with  us ;  I  can't  remember 
his  name,  but  I  daresay  you  know  about 
him. 

Everything  is  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVL, 
but  it  does  n't  go  so  well  in  the  saloon  as  it 
might,  because  the  panelling  is  old  oak,  with 
the  Foljambe  coats  of  arms  still  all  round  the 
frieze,  and  over  the  mantelpiece,  which  is 
Elizabethan.  And  I  heard  this  —  (Mr.  Jones 
I  shall  have  to  call  him)  —  say  that  it  jarred 
297 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  Coat  upon    his    nervous    system    like    an  intense 
ofJrms     p^jj^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ]yj-j.g^  Murray-Hartley  would 

keep  them  up,  because  there  was  a  "  Murray  " 
coat  of  arms  in  one  of  the  shields  of  the 
people  they  married,  and  she  says  it  is  an 
ancestor  of  hers,  and  that  is  why  they  bought 
the  place  ;  but  as  Octavia  told  me  that  their 
real  name  was  Hart,  and  that  they  hyphened 
the  "  Murray,"  which  is  his  Christian  name 
(if  Jews  can  have  Christian  names)  and  put 
on  the  "  ley "  by  royal  licence,  I  can't  see 
how  it  could  have  been  an  ancestor,  can  you  ? 
They  are  quite  established  in  Society, 
Octavia  says ;  they  have  been  there  for  two 
seasons  now,  and  every  one  knows  them. 
They  got  Lady  Greswold  to  give  their  first 
concert,  and  enclosed  programmes  with  the 
invitations,  so  hardly  any  of  the  Duchesses 
felt  they  could  refuse,  Octavia  said,  when 
they  were  certain  of  hearing  the  best  singers 
for  nothing;  and  it  was  a  splendid  plan, 
as  many  concerts  have  been  spoilt  by  a 
rumour  getting  about  that  Melba  was  not 
really  going  to  sing.  Everybody  smart 
is    here.     I    am    one    of    the    few   untitled 

people. 

298 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 

Mrs.  Murray-Hartley  does  n*t  look  a  bit  ^ 
Jewish,  or  fat  and  uneasy,  like  Mrs.   Pike,  ■^^^2'^^>' 
but  then  this  is  only  Mrs.  Pike's  first  year,  p^^^ 
She  —  Mrs.  M.-H.  —  is  beautifully  dressed, 
and  awfully   genial ;  she   said  it  was   "just 
more  than  delightful  '*   of  Octavia  to  bring 
me,  and  that  it  was  so  sweet  of  her  to  come 
to  this  friendly  little  party.     "  It  is  so  much 
nicer  to  have  just  one's  own   friends,"  she 
said,  "  instead  of  those  huge  collections  of 
people  one  hardly  knows."     There  are  quite 
twenty  of  us  here.  Mamma,  so  I  don't  call  it 
such  a  very  weeny  party,  do  you  ? 

My  bedroom  is  magnificent,  but  it  has  n't 
all  the  new  books  as  they  have  at  Cheve- 
nix,  and  although  the  writing-table  things 
are  tortoise-shell  and  gold,  there  are  n't 
any  pens  in  the  holders,  that  is  why  I  am 
writing  this  in  pencil.  The  towels  have 
such  beautifully  embroidered  double  crests 
on  them,  and  on  the  Hartley  bit,  the  motto 
is  "  La  fin  vaut  VeschelUr  Octavia,  who  is 
in  the  room  now  looking  at  everything, 
said  Lady  Greswold  chose  it  for  them 
when  they  wanted  a  crest  to  have  on  their 
Sevres  plates  and  things  for  their  concert. 
299 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


Taste 


A  ^es-    Octavia   keeps    laughing  to  herself  all   the 
^nZrf.        time,   as    she    looks   at    the    things,   and    it 
puts  me  out  writing,  so  I   will   finish   this 
when  I  come  to  bed. 

12.30.  —  We  had  a  regular  banquet,  I  sat 
next  to  Lord  Doraine  —  I  did  not  catch  the 
name  of  the  man  who  took  me  in —  I  forgot 
to  tell  you  the  Doraines  and  Sir  Trevor 
and  Lady  Cecilia  and  lots  of  others  I 
know  are  here.  Mrs.  Murray-Hartley  does 
hostess  herself,  which  Octavia  says  is  very 
plucky  of  her,  as  both  Lady  Greswold,  who 
gave  her  concert,  and  Lady  Bobby  Pomeroy, 
who  brought  all  the  young  men,  are  staying 
in  the  house  ;  and  Octavia  says  it  shows  she 
is  really  clever  to  have  emancipated  herself 
so  soon. 

We  had  gold  plate  with  the  game,  and 
china  up  to  that,  and  afterwards  Lady  Gres- 
wold talked  to  Octavia,  and  asked  her  if 
she  thought  it  would  look  better  perhaps 
to  begin  gold  with  the  soup,  and  have  the 
hors  {T  ceuvres  on  specimen  Sevres  just  to 
make  a  point.  I  hate  gold  plate  myself, 
one's  knife  does  make  such  slate-pencilish 
noises  on  it. 

300 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


The  man  who  took  me  in  kept  putting  Lord 
my  teeth  so  on  edge  that  I  was  obliged  ^almond's 
to  speak  to  him  about  it  at  last.  We  had 
sturgeon  from  the  Volga,  or  wherever  the 
Roman  emperors  got  theirs,  but  the  plates 
were  cold.  Violins  played  softly  all  the 
time,  behind  a  kind  of  Niagara  Falls  at 
the  end  of  the  room,  which  is  magnificent ; 
it  is  hung  with  aubusson,  almost  as  good 
as  what  they  had  at  Croixmare,  which  has 
been  there  always. 

After  dinner,  while  we  were  in  the  draw- 
ing-room alone,  a  note  came  for  Mrs. 
Murray- Hartley.  She  was  talking  to  Oc- 
tavia  and  me,  so  she  read  it  aloud ;  it  was 
from  Lord  Valmond,  and  sent  from  the 
inn  in  the  little  town.  He  said  he  had 
intended  staying  there  by  himself  for  the 
Hunt  Ball,  but  that  on  arrival  he  found 
no  fire  in  his  room,  so  he  was  writing  to 
ask  if  Mrs.  Murray-Hartley  would  put  him 
up.  She  was  enchanted,  and  at  once  asked 
Lady  Greswold  if  it  would  not  be  better 
to  turn  Lord  Oldfield  out  of  his  room  — 
which  is  the  best  in  the  bachelors*  suite  — 
as  he  is  only  a  baron ;  but  Lady  Greswold 
301 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Lord         said    she    did    not    think   it   would   matter. 

Valmond's  j  ^^  ^,^i|  j^  ^^j^  ^^^'t  you,  Mamma  ?  be- 
cause Lord  Valmond  told  me,  when  he  left 
Chevenix  on  Saturday,  that  he  had  to  go 
to  another  party  in  Yorkshire,  and  was  as 
cross  as  a  bear  because  he  would  not  be 
able  to  be  at  the  Grassfield  ball.  He  turned 
up  beautifully  dressed  as  usual,  as  quickly 
as  it  was  possible  for  the  brougham  which 
was  sent  for  him  to  get  back.  He  could 
not  have  kept  it  waiting  a  moment;  so  I 
don't  believe  the  story  about  there  being 
no  fire  in  his  room,  do  you  ? 

Mrs.  Murray- Hartley  did  gush  at  him. 
Octavia  says  it  is  the  first  time  she  has 
been  able  to  get  him  to  her  house,  as  he 
is  ridiculously  old-fashioned  and  particular, 
and  actually  in  London  won't  go  to  places 
unless  he  knows  the  host  and  hostess  per- 
sonally. He  stood  with  a  vacant  frown  on 
his  face  all  the  time  Mrs.  Murray- Hartley 
was  speaking,  and  a  child  could  have  seen 
he  wanted  to  get  away.  It  is  in  these  kind 
of  ways  Frenchmen  are  more  polite,  because 
the  Marquis  always  wore  an  interested  grin 
when  Godmamma  kept  him  by  her.  He  got 
302 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


away  at  last,  and  came  across  the  room,  but  Friendly 
by  that  time  Sir  Trevor  and  Mr.  Hodgkin-  ^ff^^^ 
son  were  talking  to  me,  and  there  was  no 
room  for  him  on  our  sofa,  and  he  had  to 
speak  to  Lady  Cecilia,  who  was  near.  She 
was  as  absent  as  usual,  and  he  was  talking 
at  random,  so  their  conversation  was  rather 
funny  ;  I  heard  scraps  of  it. 

Mr.  Murray-Hartley  must  be  very  nice, 
although  he  looks  so  unimportant,  for  all  the 
men  call  him  "Jim,"  and  are  awfully  friendly. 
Lord  Oldfield  and  Lord  Doraine  seem  ready 
to  do  anything  for  him.  Lord  Oldfield 
offered  to  hunt  about  and  get  him  just 
the  right  stables  for  his  house  in  Belgrave 
Square ;  he  knew  of  some  splendid  ones, 
he  said,  that  were  going  a  great  bargain, 
on  a  freehold  that  belongs  to  his  sister's 
husband.  And  Lord  Doraine  says  he  will 
choose  his  horses  for  him  at  Tattersall's  next 
week,  as  he  wants  some  good  hunters  ;  he 
knows  of  the  very  ones  for  him.  "  You 
leave  it  all  to  me,  dear  boy,''  he  said ;  and 
at  that  Sir  Trevor,  who  was  listening  (they 
were  all  standing  close  to  our  sofa)  went 
into  a  guffaw  of  laughter.  "  Hunters,"  he 
303 


THE     VISITSOF     ELIZABETH 

A  Sense  whispered,  quite  loud,  "  beastly  little  Jew, 
of  Honour  j^^  >  j  j^^^^  ^^  h^iVQ  a  rocking-horse,  and  hold 
on  by  its  mane."  And  when  I  said  I  did 
not  think  one  ought  to  speak  so  of  people 
when  one  was  eating  their  salt,  he  seemed 
to  think  that  quite  a  new  view  of  the 
case,  and  said,  "  By  Jove !  you  are  right, 
Elizabeth.  Our  honour  and  our  sense  of 
hospitality  are  both  blunted  nowadays." 

Presently  Lady  Cecilia  called  Mr.  Hodg- 
kinson  to  her,  and  in  one  moment  Lord 
Valmond  had  slipped  into  his  place.  I 
asked  him  why  he  was  not  in  Yorkshire, 
and  he  said  that  he  thought,  after  all,  it 
was  too  far  to  go,  and  it  was  his  duty  to 
be  at  the  Grassfield  ball,  as  he  has  hunted 
with  this  pack  sometimes.  He  looked  and 
looked  at  me,  and  I  don't  know  why.  Mamma, 
but  I  felt  so  queer — I  almost  wish  he  had 
not  come.  I  suppose  Mrs.  Smith  is  some- 
where in  this  neighbourhood,  and  that  is 
why  he  did  not  go  to  Yorkshire.  Sir  Trevor 
monopolised  most  of  the  conversation,  until 
we  all  got  up  to  play  baccarat.  I  did  not 
want  to  play  as  I  don't  know  it,  and  Lord 
Valmond  said  it  would  be  much  nicer  to  sit 
304 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


and  talk,  but  Mrs.  Murray-Hartley  would  Playing 
not  hear  of  our  not  joining  in;  and  Octavia  ^^^^^^^^ 
handed  me  a  five-pound  note  and  said  I  was 
not  to  lose  more  than  that,  so  I  thought  I 
had  better  not  go  on  refusing,  and  we  went 
with  the  rest  into  the  saloon,  where  there 
was  a  long  table  laid  out  with  cards  and 
counters. 

Lord  Valmond  said  he  would  teach  me 
the  game,  and  that  we  would  bank  to- 
gether ;  however,  Lady  Doraine  sat  down 
in  the  chair  he  was  holding  for  me,  and 
she  put  her  hand  on  his  coat  sleeve  and 
said  in  such  a  lovely  voice,  "  Harry,  it  is 
ages  since  I  have  had  a  chat  with  you,  sit 
down  here  by  me."  But  he  answered  No, 
he  had  promised  to  show  me  how  to  play, 
and  his  mouth  was  set  quite  square.  She 
looked  so  alluring  I  don't  know  how  he 
could  have  done  it,  it  was  almost  as  flatter- 
ing to  me  as  the  Vicomte's  riding  all  night 
from  Versailles.  She  laughed  —  but  it  was 
not  a  very  nice  laugh  —  and  she  said,  "  Poor 
boy,  is  it  as  bad  as  that  ?  '*  and  he  looked 
back  at  her  in  an  insolent  way,  as  if  they 
were  crossing  swords,  but  he  said  nothing 
20  305 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Playing     more,  only  we  moved  to  the  other  side  of 
Baccarat  ^^^  table,  to  where    there  were  two  empty 
chairs  together. 

When  we  sat  down  he  said  women  were 
devils,  which  I  thought  very  rude  of  him. 
I  told  him  so,  and  he  said  I  was  n*t  a 
woman ;  but  I  remember  now.  Mamma,  he 
called  me  a  "  little  devil  "  that  time  when 
he  was  so  rude  at  Nazeby,  so  it  shows  how 
inconsistent  men  are,  does  n't  it  ?  I  some- 
times think  he  would  like  to  say  all  the 
nice  things  the  Vicomte  used  to,  only  with 
Englishmen  I  suppose  you  have  to  be  alone 
in  the  room  for  them  to  do  that;  they 
have  not  the  least  idea,  like  the  French, 
of  managing  while  they  are  speaking  out 
loud  about  something  else. 

Every  one  looks  very  anxious  here  when 
they  play ;  it  is  not  at  all  a  joke  as  the 
roulette  used  to  be  at  Nazeby ;  and  they 
do  put  a  lot  on,  although  counters  don't 
seem  to  be  much  to  look  at.  It  is  not  at 
all  a  difficult  game.  Mamma,  and  some 
of  the  people  were  so  lucky  turning  up 
"  naturels,"  but  we  lost  in  spite  of  them 
at  our  side  of  the  table,  and  Lord  Doraine 
306 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


said  at  last,  that  it  was  because  we  —  Lord  A  Good- 
Valmond  and  I  —  were  sitting  together.  ^^^"^ 
Valmond  looked  angry,  but  he  chaffed 
back.  I  don't  know  what  it  was  all  about, 
and  I  was  getting  so  sleepy,  that  when  a  fresh 
deal  was  going  to  begin  I  asked  Octavia, 
who  was  near,  if  I  might  not  go  to  bed. 
She  nodded,  so  I  slipped  away.  Lord  Val- 
mond followed,  to  light  my  candle  he 
said,  but  as  there  is  nothing  but  electric 
light  that  was  nonsense.  He  was  just  be- 
ginning to  say  something  nice,  when  we 
got  beyond  the  carved  oak  screen  that 
separates  the  staircase  from  the  saloon, 
and  there  there  were  rows  of  footmen 
and  people  peeping  in,  so  he  just  said 
"  Good-night." 

And  I  also  will  say  good-night  to  you, 
Mamma,  or  I  shall  look  ugly  to-morrow 
for  the  ball.  —  Love  from  your  affectionate 
daughter,  Elizabeth. 


307 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 


FoLjAMBE  Place, 

i6th  November. 

Bad  Dearest    Mamma. —  I    have  just  come 

^^  ^^  up  to  dress  for  tea,  but  I  find  it  is  earlier 
than  I  thought,  so  I  shall  have  time  to 
tell  you  about  to-day.  It  has  absolutely 
poured  with  rain  and  sleet  and  snow  and 
blown  a  gale  from  the  moment  we  woke 
this  morning  until  now  —  quite  the  most 
horrid  weather  I  ever  remember.  All  the 
men  were  in  such  tempers,  as  it  was  im- 
possible to  shoot.  Mr.  Murray-Hartley 
had  prepared  thousands  of  tame  pheasants 
for  them,  Tom  said,  although  this  was  n't 
to  be  a  big  shoot,  only  to  amuse  them  by 
the  way ;  and  they  were  all  looking  for- 
ward to  a  regular  slaughter. 

O  eta  via,  and  I,  and  Lady  Bobby,  were 
among  the  few  women  down  to  breakfast 
besides  our  hostess,  who  is  so  bright  and 
cheery  in  the  morning ;  and  when  you  think 
how  morose  English  people  are  until  lunch 
time  it  is  a  great  quality.  Some  of  the 
men  came  down  ready  to  start,  and  these 
were  the  ones  in  the  worst  humour.  After 
308 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


breakfast   half  of  them    disappeared  to  the  An 
stables,  and  the  rest  played  "  Bridge,"  except  ^"^J^ 
Lord  Valmond  and  Mr.  Hodgkinson,  who 
wanted    to    stay   with   us,    only    we   would 
not   have    them,  so   we   were   left    to    our- 
selves more  or  less. 

Mrs.  Murray-Hartley  took  us  to  see  the 
pictures  and  the  collections  of  china  and 
miniatures ;  and  she  talks  about  them  all 
just  like  a  book,  and  calls  them  simple  little 
things,  and  you  would  never  have  guessed 
they  cost  thousands,  and  that  she  had  not 
been  used  to  them  always,  until  she  showed 
us  a  beautiful  enamel  of  Madame  de  Pompa- 
dour, and  called  it  the  Princesse  de  Lam- 
balle,  and  said  so  sympathetically  that  it 
was  quite  too  melancholy  to  think  she 
had  been  hacked  to  pieces  in  the  Revolu- 
tion; only  perhaps  it  served  her  right  for 
saying  "  Apr'es  moi  le  deluge ! "  Octavia 
was  in  fits,  and  I  wonder  no  one  noticed 
it.  Then  she  said  she  must  leave  us  for 
a  little  in  the  music-room,  as  she  always 
went  to  see  her  children  at  this  hour  — 
they  live  in  another  wing. 

By  that  time  Lady  Doraine  and  Lady  Gres- 
309 


THE      VISITS      OF      ELIZABETH 

Gossip  wold,  and  most  of  the  others  were  down,  and 
some  of  them  looked  as  if  they  had  been  up 
awfully  late.  It  seems  they  did  not  finish 
the  baccarat  until  half-past  three,  and  that 
Lord  Oldfield  won  more  than  a  thousand 
pounds.  Mrs.  Murray-Hartley  had  hardly 
got  out  of  the  door,  when  Lady  Doraine 
said  what  a  beautiful  woman  she  was,  and 
Lady  Greswold  began  "  yes  and  such  tact," 
and  Lady  Bobby  said,  "  and  so  charming," 
and  Lady  Cecilia  —  who  was  doing  ribbon 
work  on  a  small  frame  that  sounds  like  a 
drum  every  time  you  put  the  needle 
through  —  looked  up  and  drawled  in  her 
voice  right  up  at  the  top,  "  Yes,  I  have 
noticed  very   rich   people   always   are." 

Then  they  all  talked  at  once,  and  by 
listening  carefully  one  made  out  that  they 
were  saying  a  nice  thing  about  every  one,  only 
with  a  different  ending  to  it,  like :  "  she  is 
perfectly  devey  but  what  a  pity  she  makes 
herself  so  remarkable,"  and  "  Darling  Florrie, 
of  course  she  is  as  straight  as  a  die,  but 
wearing  those  gowns  so  much  too  young 
for  her,  and  with  that  very  French  figure, 
it  does  give  people  a  wrong  impression," 
310 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


and    "It    is    extraordinary    luck    for    dear  The 

Rosie,  her  husband*s  dying  before  he  knew  ^°"^^f  ^ 
1  •        ,,     T  •    •       11    •    1       TV  T  Rebuked 

anything.      I  suppose  it  is  all  right.  Mamma, 

but  it  sounds  to  me  like  giving  back-handers. 
The  French  women  never  talked  like  this  ; 
they  were  witty  and  amusing  and  polite,  just 
the  same  as  if  the  men  were  in  the  room. 

Octavia  did  not  join  in  it,  but  read 
the  papers,  and  when  they  got  round  to 
Mrs.  Murray-Hartley  again,  and  this  time 
simply  clawed  her  to  pieces,  Octavia  looked 
up  and  said  in  a  downright  way,  "  Oh ! 
come,  we  need  none  of  us  have  known  this 
woman  unless  we  liked,  and  we  are  all  get- 
ting the  quid  pro  quo  out  of  her,  so  for 
goodness'  sake  let  us  leave  her  alone." 
That  raised  a  perfect  storm,  they  denied 
having  said  a  word  and  were  quite  indig- 
nant at  the  idea  of  getting  anything  out 
of  her;  but  "It's  all  bosh,"  Octavia  said, 
"  I  am  here  because  it  is  the  nearest  house 
to  the  Grassfield  ball,  and  the  whole  thing 
amuses  me,  and  I  suppose  you  all  have  your 
reasons."  Lady  Doraine  looked  at  her  out 
of  the  corner  of  her  eyes,  and  said  in  her 
purry  voice,  "  Darling  Octavia  —  you  are  so 
311 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Octavia's  original,"  and  then   she  turned  the  conver- 
Philosophy  g^^iQj^  ij^  ^i^g  neatest  way. 

Octavia  said  to  me,  as  we  went  upstairs 
before  lunch,  that  they  were  a  set  of  cats  and 
harpies,  and  she  hated  them  all,  only  unfor- 
tunately the  others  —  the  nice  good  ones  — 
taken  en  bloc  made  things  so  dull,  it  was 
better  to  put  up  with  this  set.  Then  she 
kissed  me  as  I  went  into  my  room  and 
said ;  "  At  this  time  of  the  world's  day,  my 
little  Elizabeth,  there  is  no  use  in  fighting 
windmills." 

At  luncheon  Lord  Valmond  sat  next  to 
me ;  he  said  we  had  been  horrid  not  to  have 
wanted  him  to  spend  the  morning  with  us, 
and  would  I  let  him  teach  me  "  Bridge  " 
afterwards  ?  I  said  I  really  was  not  a  bit 
interested  in  cards,  but  he  said  it  was  a 
delightful  game,  so  I  said  All  right.  After 
lunch  in  the  saloon  I  overheard  Mrs. 
Murray- Hartley  say  to  Lady  Greswold 
that  she  feared  this  awful  weather  would 
make  her  party  a  failure,  and  what  was 
she  to  do  to  amuse  them  this  afternoon? 
So  Lady  Greswold  said :  "  Leave  'em  alone 
with  plenty  of  opportunities  to  talk  to  their 
312 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 

friends,  and  it  will   be  all  right."     And  so  ^n 

she  did.  Afternoon 

Lord  Valmond  and  I  found  a  nice  little 
table  in  a  corner  by  the  fire,  and  we 
began  to  turn  over  the  cards,  and  presently 
every  one  disappeared,  except  Lady  Doraine 
and  Mr.  Wertz,  who  played  Patience 
or  something,  beyond  one  of  the  Spanish 
leather  screens  ;  and  Lady  Bobby  and  Lord 
Oldfield,  who  were  smoking  cigarettes  to- 
gether on  the  big  sofa.  We  could  just  hear 
their  voices  murmuring.  You  can't  play 
"  Bridge  "  with  only  two  people,  I  find,  and 
when  Lord  Valmond  had  explained  the 
principles  to  me,  I  was  none  the  wiser.  I 
suppose  I  was  thinking  of  something  else, 
and  he  said  I  was  a  stupid  little  thing,  but 
in  such  a  nice  voice,  and  then  we  talked 
and  did  not  worry  about  the  cards.  But 
after  a  while  he  said  he  thought  it  was 
draughty  for  me  in  the  saloon,  and  it  would 
be  cosier  in  one  of  the  sitting-rooms,  but 
I  would  not  go.  Mamma,  as  I  did  not 
find  it  at  all  cold. 

Then  Lord  Doraine  came  in,  and  went 
over  and  disturbed  everybody  in  turn,  and 
313 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

Lord  finally  sat  down  by  us,  and  Lady  Bobby 
Doraine  laughed  out  loud,  and  Lady  Doraine  peeped 
round  the  screen  with  her  mischievous  tor- 
toise-shell cat  expression,  so  I  just  said  I 
would  go  and  dress  for  tea,  and  came  upstairs. 
I  am  sure  they  were  all  trying  to  make  me 
feel  uncomfortable,  but  I  did  n't  a  bit.  I 
heard  them  shrieking  with  laughter  as  I  left, 
and  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  Lord  Valmond's 
face,  and  it  was  set  as  hard  as  iron. 

Octavia  wants  me  to  wear  my  only  other 
new  ball  dress  to-night,  the  white  gauze,  so 
I  suppose  I  must,  and  I  do  hope  the  rain 
will  stop  before  we  start.  —  With  love  from 
your  affectionate  daughter, 

Elizabeth. 

P.S, — Agnes  says  she  won't  sup  down- 
stairs, as  there  was  so  much  champagne  in 
the  "  room  "  last  night  that  several  of  the 
valets  got  drunk,  and  she  thinks   it  is   not 

distingue. 


3H 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


FoLjAMBE  Place, 

Wednesday, 

Dearest  Mamma,  — Octavia  is  writing  to  Sir  Hugh 
you,  and  we  have  such  a  piece  of  news  for  ^'^y^^- 
you !     I  will  tell  you  presently. 

Part  of  the  ball  last  night  was  quite 
delightful,  and  fortunately  the  rain  had 
stopped  before  we  started,  in  fact,  I  saw 
the  stars  shining  when  I  looked  out  on  my 
way  down  to  tea.  A  new  man  had  arrived. 
Sir  Hugh  d'Eynecourt,  I  remember  you  have 
often  spoken  of  him.  He  is  nice-looking 
though  quite  old,  over  forty,  I  should  think. 
It  appears  he  has  been  away  from  the  world 
for  more  than  two  years ;  he  has  only  come 
to  this  party  now  because  Lady  Bobby  made 
him  ;  he  met  her  lately,  and  is  a  great  friend 
of  hers.  The  other  men.  Lord  Doraine,  &c., 
were  chaffing  him  by  the  fireplace  —  no  one 
else  was  down  —  and  they  did  say  such  odd 
things.  Tom  asked  him  why  he  had  dis- 
appeared for  so  long,  and  he  said.  Time 
was,  when  —  if  one  stuck  to  one's  own  class 
—  to  live  and  love  was  within  the  reach  of 
3^5 


THE     VISITS     OF     ELIZABETH 

The  any  gentleman,  but  since  the  fashion  of  the 

^r/k/  long  strings  of  pearls  came  in,  it  had  be- 
come more  expensive  than  the  other  class, 
and  he  could  not  compete  with  Jews  and 
financiers,  so  he  had  gone  to  live  quietly 
in  Paris.  I  don't  know  what  it  meant,  but  it 
seemed  to  amuse  them  all  awfully. 

When  they  saw  me  sitting  on  the  sofa  they 
stopped  talking  at  once,  and  then  began  about 
how  horrid  the  day  had  been  ;  and  Sir  Hugh 
was  introduced  and  asked  about  you.  He 
said  I  was  not  nearly  so  pretty  as  you  had 
been  at  my  age,  but  I  should  do,  he  dared  say. 
Then  when  I  stood  up,  and  he  saw  my 
height,  he  said  that  he  had  always  thought 
five  foot  seven  a  perfect  measure  for  women, 
so  I  said  I  did  feel  disappointed,  as  I  was 
only  five  foot  six  and  three-quarters ;  he 
laughed  and  whispered,  "  Oh  yes,  I  am  sure 
you  will  do  —  very  well  indeed."  He  is 
charming,  and  he  says  he  will  be  an  uncle 
to  me. 

At  tea  Octavia  and  he  and  t  sat  on  the 

big  sofa,  and  Lady  Bobby  did  not  like  it  a 

bit.     She  tried  to    talk   to  Lord  Valmond, 

who  was  fidgeting    about,  looking  as  cross 

316 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


as  a  bear ;  but  he  would  not  stay  still  long  The 
enough  to  have  any  conversation.  parrel 

As  we  were  going  upstairs  afterwards,  he 
ran  after  me  and  said  he  must  tell  me  that 
Sir  Hugh  was  not  at  all  the  kind  of  man 
I  ought  to  talk  so  much  to,  and  would  I 
promise  him  the  first  dance  to-night?  I 
said  No,  that  I  was  going  to  give  it  to  Sir 
Hugh,  and  that  he  had  better  mind  his  own 
business  or  I  would  not  dance  with  him  at 
all.  I  was  not  really  angry.  Mamma  —  be- 
cause he  is  so  nice-looking  —  but  one  is 
obliged  to  be  firm  with  men,  as  I  am  sure 
you  know.  He  turned  round  and  stamped 
down  the  stairs  again,  without  a  word,  in 
a  passion.  At  dinner,  which  I  went  in  to 
with  Mr.  Wertz,  Sir  Hugh  was  at  the  other 
side,  and  you  can't  think  how  friendly  we 
got.  He  says  I  am  the  sweetest  little  darling 
he  has  seen  in  a  month  of  Sundays.  I  kept 
catching  sight  of  Lord  Valmond's  face  be- 
tween the  flowers  —  he  had  taken  in  Mrs. 
Murray-Hartley  —  and  it  was  alternately  so 
cross  and  unhappy  looking,  that  he  must 
have  had  violent  indigestion. 

We  went  to   the    ball  in  omnibuses  and 
317 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  broughams,    the    usual    thing  ;  but  Octavia 

parrel  ^^^j^  ^^^^  ^^^^  j   g^^  between  her  and  Lady 

CeciHa.  Mrs.  Murray-Hartley^^^j  so  beauti- 
fully dressed,  and  her  jewels  were  superb, 
and  everything  in  very  good  taste.  She  is 
really  a  very  agreeable  woman  to  talk  to. 
Mamma,  and  one  can't  blame  her  for  want- 
ing to  be  in  Society.  It  must  be  so  much 
nicer  than  Bayswater,  where  they  came  from, 
and  Octavia  says  it  proves  her  intelligence  ; 
it  is  easier  to  rise  from  the  gutter  than  from 
the  suburbs. 

Everybody  had  arrived  when  our  party 
got  to  the  ball.  The  Rooses  are  staying 
at  Pennythorn,  and  Jane  came  and  said  to 
me  at  once  how  sorry  she  was  to  see  me 
looking  pale,  and  she  hoped  I  would  be  able 
to  enjoy  myself —  I  was  n't  pale.  Mamma,  I 
am  sure,  but  I  did  feel  just  a  teeny  bit  sorry 
I  had  quarrelled  again  with  Lord  Valmond. 
He  never  came  near  me,  and  everything 
seemed  to  be  at  sixes  and  sevens  ;  people 
got  cross  because  I  mixed  up  their  dances 
quite  unintentionally,  and,  I  don't  know 
why,  I  did  not  enjoy  myself  a  bit,  in  spite 
of  Sir  Hugh  saying  every  sort  of  lovely 
318 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


thing  to  me.      I   had  supper  with  him,  and  ^n  Un- 

Lord  Vahnond  was  near  with  Lady  Doraine,  Pj^^^^^^ 
,      ,  -     .  .  1  •         TV  /r  Incident 

and  she  was  being  so  nice  to  him,  Mamma, 

leaning  over  and  looking  into   his  eyes,  and 

I  don't  think  it  good  form,  do  you  ?     Two 

or  three  dances  afterwards,  when    we    went 

back  to  the  ball-room,  there  was  a  polka  ; 

I  danced  it  with  some  idiot  who  almost  at 

once  let  yards  and  yards  of  my  gauze  frills 

get  torn,    so   I   was   obliged  to    go    to    the 

cloak-room  to  have  it  pinned  up. 

It  was  a  long  way  off,  and  when  I  came  out 

my  partner  had  disappeared,  and  there  was  no 

one  about  but  Lord  Doraine,  and  the  moment 

I  saw  him  I  hated  the  look  in  his  eyes,  they 

seemed  all  swimming ;  and  he   said  in  such 

a  nasty  fat  voice :  "  Little  darling,    I   have 

sent  your   partner  away,  and   I   am  waiting 

for  you,  come  and  sit  out  with  me  among 

the  palms,"  and  I  don't  know  why,  but  I  felt 

frightened,  and  so  I  said, "  No  !  "   that  I  was 

going  back  to  the  ball-room.     And  he  got 

nearer  and  nearer,  and  caught  hold  of  my 

arm,  and  said,  "  No,  no,  you  shall  not  unless 

you  give  me  a  kiss  first."     And  he    would 

not   let   me    pass.      I    can't    imagine    why, 

319 


THE     VISITS      OF     ELIZABETH 

The  En-  Mamma,  but  I  never  felt  so  frightened  in 
gagement  j^^   |j£g .  ^^^  j^g^  then,  walking  aimlessly 

down  the  passage,  came  Lord  Valmond. 

He  saw  us  and  came  up  quickly,  and  I 
was  so  glad  to  see  some  one,  that  I  ran  to 
him,  as  Lord  Doraine  let  me  pass  directly  he 
caught  sight  of  Harry  —  I  mean  Lord  Val- 
mond —  and  he  was  in  such  a  rage  when  he 
saw  how  I  was  trembling,  and  said,  "  What 
has  that  brute  been  saying  to  you  ? "  and 
looked  as  if  he  wanted  to  go  back  and  fight 
him ;  but  I  was  so  terrified  that  I  could  only 
say,  "  Do  come  away  !  *' 

We  went  and  sat  in  the  palm  place, 
and  there  was  not  a  soul  there,  as  every 
one  was  dancing ;  and  I  really  don*t 
know  how  it  happened,  I  was  so  upset 
about  that  horrid  Lord  Doraine,  that  Harry 
tried  to  comfort  me,  and  we  made  up  our 
quarrel,  and  —  he  kissed  me  again  —  and  I 
hope  you  won't  be  very  cross.  Mamma ; 
but  somehow  I  did  not  feel  at  all  angry 
this  time.  And  I  thought  he  was  fond  of 
Mrs.  Smith;  but  it  isn't,  it's  Me!  And 
we  are  engaged.  And  Octavia  is  writing 
to  you.  And  I  hope  you  won't  mind.  And 
320 


V 


FOLJAMBE      PLACE 


the  post  is  off,  so  no  more.  —  From   your  Vktorine 
affectionate  daughter,  Elizabeth.      ^^  outdone 

P,S,  —  I  shall  get  married  before  the 
Drawing-Room  in  February,  because  then 
I  can  wear  a  tiara. 

P.S.  again.  —  Of  course  an  English  mar- 
quis is  higher  than  a  French  one,  so  I 
shall  walk  in  front  of  Victorine  anywhere, 
shan  t  I  ?  E. 


21 


321 


NOTABLE      NOVELS 

WITH    SOME    PRESS    OPINIONS 

THE  CARDINAL'S  SNUFF-BOX.  By 
Henry  Harland.  Author  of  "  Grey  Roses," 
"  Comedies  and  Errors,"  etc.  Crown  8vo. 
I1.50. 

The  North  American:  ^'This  charming  love  story  ...  is  as  delicate  as  the 
sunset  on  the  snow-covered  summits  of  his  Monte  Sfiorito,  as  fragrant 
with  the  breath  of  youth,  summer,  and  love  as  the  forest  breeze  which 
swept  into  the  villa  Floriano." 

Neiv  Tork  Tribune:  **  We  find  *  The  Cardinal's  Snuff  Box 'so  captivating, 
a  book  so  good  that  we  want  it  to  be  perfect  ...  it  is  a  book  to  enjoy 
and  to  praise." 

Chicago  Times-Herald:  **  The  chief  virtue  of  the  story  is  the  fi-eshness  and 
idyllic  quality  of  the  manner  of  its  telling." 

The  Albany  Argus  :  **  One  of  the  prettiest  love  stories  one  can  find  in  search- 
ing the  book-shelves  over  ....  There  are  few  books  that  give  so  broad 
and  beautiful  a  picture  of  the  Catholic  as  this  garden  idyll." 

The  Boston  Herald:  "So  happily  flavored  \^th  witty  and  brilliant  conversations, 
and  so  full  of  charm  in  its  love  avowals  that  it  is  utterly  irresistible.  .  .  . 
Altogether  it  is  one  of  the  most  refi-eshing  love  stories  of  modem  fiction.** 

The  World  (London)  :   '<  A  work  of  art." 

Spectator  (London)  :   "A  charming  romance." 

The  Star  (London)  :  **My  admiration  leaves  me  breathless." 

Speaker  (London)  :  "Mr.  Harland  has  achieved  a  triumph.  .  .  .  The  most 
delightfiil  book  the  spring  has  yet  brought.'* 

SENATOR  NORTH.  By  Gertrude  Ath- 
ERTON.  Author  of  "  Patience  Sparhawk," 
"The  CaHfornians,**  "A  Daughter  of  the 
Vine,"  etc.,  etc.     Crown  8vo.     I1.50. 

New  Tork  Herald:  "In  the  description  of  Washington  life  Mrs.  Atherton 
shows  not  only  a  very  considerable  knowledge  of  externals,  but  also  an  insight 
into  the  underlying  political  issues  that  is  remarkable." 

Chicago  Times  Herald:  **Mrs.  Atherton  is  capable  of  dramatic  situations  of 
great  intensity." 

Outlook:  "The  novel  has  genuine  historical  value." 

Town  Topics:  "  'Senator  North'  is  a  book  that  every  American,  whether 
interested  in  the  society  life  of  the  capital  or  the  larger  life  of  the  men  who 
make  the  laws,  should  read.  It  is  the  strongest  political  novel  ever  written 
by  an  American.  As  a  historic  novel  it  is  in  a  class  by  itself.  No  earnest 
student  of  our  national  life  can  afford  to  let  *  Senator  North '  go  unread.'* 

Boston  Times :  **  It  is  one  of  the  best  books  I  have  read  this  year,  and  it  is 
thoroughly  American.** 


NOTABLE      NOVELS 

WITH    SOME    PRESS    OPINIONS 

THE  TRIALS  OF  THE  BANTOCKS.  By  G.  S.  Street. 
Author  of  *«The  Autobiography  of  a  Boy/'  "The  Wise  and 
the  Wayward/'  "  Quales  Ego,"  etc.      i2mo.     ;^i.25. 

Neiv  Tork  Tribune :   *'  A  capital  skit,  scalding  in  its  satire  and  genial  in  its 

drollery  .   .   .   well  sustained  j  it  is  effectively  written  all  through." 
Public  Ledger :   "  Keen  and  humorous,  the  novel  presents  an  inimitable  study 

of  the   wealthy  British  Philistine    that  would   have   filled   the   heart  of 

Matthew  Arnold  with  joy. ' ' 
New  York  Herald :   "  Extremely  well  written,  the  humor  delicate  and  refined, 

and  the  moral  obvious." 

THE  REALIST.      By  Herbert  Flowerdew.     Crown  8vo. 

^1.50. 

Pall  Mall  Gazette  :  "  Those  who  love  a  story  which  will  hold  their  attention 
closely  fi-om  the  first  page  to  the  last  need  go  no  further  than  '  The  Realist.'  " 

THE    JUDGMENT    OF    HELEN.     By    Thomas    Cobb. 

Author  of  "  Mr.  Passingham,"  *'  Scruples,"  etc.      Crown 

8vo.     $1.50. 
Literature  :  "A  very  entertaining  and  well-written  book." 

ONE  QUEEN  TRIUMPHANT.  By  Frank  Mathew. 
Author  of  "  The  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  «  The  Wood  of 
the  Brambles,"  «' A  Child  in  the  Temple,''  "  The  Spanish 
Wine,"  etc.      Crown  8vo.      $1.50. 

The  Spectator :  "A  very  spirited  and  ingenious  novel.'* 

IDOLS.  By  W.  J.  Locke.  Author  of  "  The  White  Dove," 
etc.     Crown  8vo.     ^1.50. 

Daily  Mail :  '<  One  of  the  very  few  distinguished  novels  of  this  present  book 
season. ' ' 

THE  QUEST  OF  THE  GOLDEN  GIRL.     By  Richard 

Le  Gallienne.      Crown  8vo.      j^i.50. 

THE    ROMANCE    OF   ZION    CHAPEL.     By    Richard 

Le  Gallienne.     Crown  8vo.     $1.50. 

THE  WORSHIPPER    OF   THE  IMAGE.     By  Richard 

Le  Gallienne.     Crown  8vo.     ^1.50. 

REGINA,  OR,  The  Sins  of  the  Fathers.  By  Hermann 
SuDERMANN.  Translated  by  Beatrice  Marshall.  Crown 
8vo.     ^1.50. 

JOHN  LANE  .  251  Fifth  Avenue  •  NEW  YORK 


COMEDIES    AND    ERRORS 

By  HENRY   HARLAND 

Second  Edition 

Mr.  Harland  has  clearly  thought  out  a  form,  .  .  .  He  has  mastered  a 
method,  and  learned  how  to  paint.  .  .  .  His  art  is  all  alive  with  felicities 
and  delicacies.  .  .  .  He  is  lost  in  the  vision,  all  whimsical  and  picturesque, 
of  palace  secrets,  rulers  and  pretenders  and  ministers,  of  bewilderingly  light 
comedy  in  undiscoverable  Balkan  States,  Bohemias  of  the  seaboard ;  in  the 
heavy,  many-voiced  air  of  the  old  Roman  streets  and  of  the  high  Roman 
saloons,  where  cardinals  are  part  of  the  furniture  ;  in  the  hum  of  prodigious 
Paris,  heard  in  comers  of  old  cafes ;  in  the  sense  of  the  deep  English  back- 
ground, as  much  as  that  of  any  of  these.  Most  of  his  situations  are  treated 
in  the  first  person ;  and  as  they  skip  across  fi-ontiers,  and  pop  up  in  parks 
and  palaces,  they  give  us  the  impression  that,  all  suffused  with  youth  as  the 
whole  thing  seems,  it  is  the  play  of  a  memory  that  has  had  half  a  dozen 
lives.  Nothing  is  more  charming  in  it  than  the  reverberation  of  the  old 
delicate,  sociable  France  that  the  author  loves  most  of  all  to  conjure  up, 
and  that  fills  the  exquisite  little  picture  of  **  Rooms"  with  an  odour  of 
feint  lavender  in  wonderful  bowls  and  a  rustle  of  ancient  silk  on  polished 
floors.  — Mr.  Henry  James,  in  an  article  on  Mr.  Harland's  work  in  The 
Fortnightly  Rcvieiu. 

A  kind  of  younger  Pater,  emancipated  fix)m  those  cramping  academic 
bonds  which  occasionally  injured  Mr.  Pater's  work.  Mr.  Harland  is 
younger,  freer,  with  juvenile  spirits  and  a  happy  keenness  and  interest  in 
life.  He  is  more  of  a  creator  and  less  of  a  critic  ;  perhaps  some  day  he  will 
even  achieve  the  same  kind  of  literary  distinction  as  that  which  adorned  his 
older  rival.  —  Mr.  W.  L.  Courtney,  in  Daily  Telegraph. 

Indubitably  he  has  given  to  the  short-story  form  a  shapeliness,  a  distinc- 
tion of  contour,  a  delicacy  in  detail,  an  effective  value,  and,  above  all,  an 
economic  simplicity,  beyond  the  performance  of  others.  He  has  carried 
the  technique  of  a  particular  art  further  than  any  of  his  contemporaries.  — 
Academy, 

This  reviewer  cannot  call  to  mind  the  name  of  any  one  writing  in  English 
who  works  in  the  same  medium  in  which  Mr.  Harland  does  supremely 
well.  —  Daily  Chronicle. 

Mr.  Henry  Harland  charms,  and  at  times  even  enchants  you  with  hit 
wit  and  humour  and  the  dainty  delicacy  and  grace  of  his  portraiture  in 
"  Comedies  and  Errors."  —  Truth. 

JOHN  LANE,  Publisher,  London  ^  New  York 


COMEDIES    AND    ERRORS 

By   HENRY   HARLAND 

Some  American  Press  Opinions 

What  Mr.  Harland  has  done  definitely  for  the  art  of  the  short  story  is 
to  enlarge  its  scope,  to  give  it  fulness  and  richness,  to  link  the  incident 
with  the  rest  of  life,  and  to  convert  what  has  been  feared  as  embarrassing 
decoration  into  essential  substance.  ,  ,  .  Mr.  Harland' s  temperament 
is  gay  enough  to  wrestle  with  the  most  painful  experience,  and  to  declare 
that,  after  all,  life  is  good,  pain  transient,  and  pleasure  of  one  sort  or  an- 
other always  waiting  for  recognition.  —  The  Nation^ 

These  **  Comedies  and  Errors  "  reveal  the  instinct  of  the  true  artist,  the 
sense  of  form,  the  compression  and  restraint,  the  lightness  of  touch  and  the 
deft  handling  of  incident  that  characterize  the  short  stories  of  the  most  famous 
practitioners.  Mr.  Harland  has  not  gone  to  the  school  of  the  best  French' 
men  in  -vain,  and  has  at  last  shown  himself  capable  of  workmanship  so  deli' 
cate  that  we  have  not  the  heart  to  say  aught  but  praise  concerning  it.  —  The 
Dial. 

GREY       ROSES 

By  HENRY   HARLAND 

Exceedingly  pleasant  to  read.  You  close  the  book  with  a  feeling  that 
you  have  met  a  host  of  charming  people.  "Castles  near  Spain"  comes 
near  to  being  a  perfect  thing  of  its  kind.  —  Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

They  are  charming  stories,  simple,  full  of  freshness,  with  a  good  deal  of 
delicate  wit,  both  in  the  imagining  and  in  the  telling.  The  last  story  of 
the  book,  in  spite  of  improbabilities  quite  tremendous,  is  a  delightful  story. 
He  has  realised  better  than  any  one  else  the  specialised  character  of  the 
short  story  and  how  it  should  be  written.  —  Daily  Chronicle. 

Really  delightful.  "Castles  near  Spain"  is  as  near  perfection  as  it 
could  well  be.  —  Spectator. 

**  Castles  near  Spain"  as  a  fentastjc  love  episode  Is  simply  inimitable, 
and  "Mercedes"  is  instinct  with  a  pretty  humour  and  childlike  tender- 
ness that  render  it  peculiarly,  nay,  uniquely  fascinating.  "Grey  Roses" 
are  entitled  to  rank  among  the  choicest  flowers  of  the  realms  of  romance.  — 
Daily  Telegraph. 

Never  before  has  the  strange,  we  might  almost  say  the  weird,  fascination 
of  the  Bohemianism  of  the  Latin  Quarter  been  so  well  depicted. — FFhiiehall 
Revretv. 

JOHN  LANE,  Publisher,  London  &  New  York 


